Of the latest set of MLAs elected to the 40-member Goa Assembly, 40 per cent have criminal cases while 33 per cent have serious criminal cases against them.
Except one, all other winning candidates are crorepatis with average assets of winning candidates being Rs 20.16 crore. As many as 21 of them - which makes it 53 per cent - are graduates and above.
These are the findings of the analysis done by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Goa Election Watch of the self-sworn affidavits of all 40 winning candidates in the Goa 2022 Assembly Elections, results for which were declared on Thursday.
The ruling BJP returned with 20 seats while Congress managed 11 seats. The winners included three Independents while the Aam Aadmi Party and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak have won two seats each and the Goa Forward Party and the Revolutionary Goans Party have won one seat each.
Criminal cases:
Of the 40 winning candidates analysed in 2022, 16 winning candidates (40 per cent) have declared criminal cases against themselves. In 2017, nine (23 per cent) MLAs had declared criminal cases.
A total of 13 (33 per cent) winning candidates have declared serious criminal cases against themselves. In 2017, six (15 per cent) of MLAs had declared serious criminal cases against themselves.
Winning candidates with cases related to crimes against women include two, out of which one has declared cases related to rape (IPC Section-376).
Party-wise performance:
Of the 40-members, seven (35 per cent) out of 20 of BJP have criminal cases; seven (64 per cent) out of 11 of Congress; 1 (50 per cent) out of two of Maharashtrawadi Gomantak and the lone (100 per cent) MLA of Goa Forward Party have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
Similarly, six (30 per cent) out of 20 winning candidates from BJP, six (55 per cent) out of 11 winning candidates from INC and 1 (50 per cent) out of two winning candidates from Maharashtrawadi Gomantak have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
Crorepati candidates and their assets:
As many as 39 (98 per cent) winners are crorepatis compared to 40 (100 per cent) MLAs in the 2017 Assembly polls. Except the lone winner from Revolutionary Goans Party, who is not a crorepati, all the other winners from BJP, INC, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak party, AAP, Goa Forward Party and even the three Independents have declared assets worth more than Rs one crore.
The average of assets per winning candidates in the Goa Assembly Elections 2022 is Rs 20.16 crore compared to Rs 10.90 crore in 2017.
Among major parties, the average assets per winning candidates for 20 BJP is Rs 15.32 crore; for 11 Congress MLAs is Rs 31.26 crore; for the two Maharashtrawadi Gomantak winners, it is Rs 14.30 crore and for the two AAP winning candidates, the average assets are worth Rs 8.67 crore.
Of the 40 newly elected MLAs, 13 (33 per cent) have declared their educational qualification to be between 8th pass and 12th pass, while 21 (53 per cent) winning candidates have declared having an educational qualification of graduate and above. There are six who are Diploma holders, the ADR analysis found out.
