In a country where top 5% own over 60% of nation’s wealth, The average assets of Rajya Sabha MP (people who are supposed to run the nation) is Rs 80.93 crore. Twenty-seven of them are billionaires, with Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra topping the list with these states alone sending 11 of them.
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the National Election Watch (NEW) have analysed and updated the criminal, financial and other background details of 225 out of 233 Rajya Sabha MPs.
In the current Rajya Sabha, one seat is vacant According to the report, 5 (45%) out of 11 MPs from Andhra Pradesh, 3 (43%) out of 7 MPs from Telangana, 3 (16%) out of 19 MPs from Maharashtra, 1 (33%) out of 3 MPs from Delhi, 2 (29%) out of 7 MPs from Punjab, 1 (20%) out of 5 MPs from Haryana and 2 (18%) out of 11 MPs from Madhya Pradesh have declared assets worth more than Rs 100 crore.
There are 84 MPs who have assets worth over Rs 10 crore while 33 have assets worth Rs 5-10 crore, 77 with assets worth Rs 1-5 crore, 23 with assets worth Rs 20 lakh to Rs 1 crore and eight MPs with assets less than Rs 20 lakh.
Out of the 225 Rajya Sabha sitting MPs analysed, 75 (33% have declared criminal cases against themselves.
Four Rajya Sabha sitting MPs have declared cases related to crimes against women. Out of 4 MPs, one Rajya Sabha sitting MP – Congress’ K C Venugopal – from Rajasthan has declared case related to rape (IPC section 376). About 23 (27%) out of 85 Rajya Sabha MPs from BJP, 12 (40%) out of 30 MPs from Congress, 4 (31%) out of 13 MPs from AITC, 5 (83%) out of 6 MPs from RJD, 4 (80%) out of 5 MPs from CPI(M), 3 (30%) out of 10 MPs from AAP, 3 (33%) out of 9 MPs from YSRCP, and 2 (67%) out of 3 Rajya Sabha MPs from the NCP have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.