Amid the outrage over crimes against women, statistics are casting doubt about the sincerity of the political system in fighting the menace: As many as 76 lawmakers across the country have declared cases related to crimes against women. In the last five years, a total of 572 candidates with such cases registered against them have contested Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and Assembly elections.
A total of 756 MPs and 4,063 MLAs with criminal cases against them were analysed in a study conducted by the Association for Democratic Reforms. Of these 76 lawmakers—58 MLAs and 18 MPs —have declared cases related to crimes against women.
There are nine lawmakers who have declared cases related to rape. Three of these lawmakers are MPs and six are MLAs.
An analysis of 4,822 out of 4,896 election affidavits of current MPs and MLAs was carried out by the Association for Democratic Reforms. A total of 759 out of 776 affidavits of MPs and 4,063 out of 4,120 affidavits of MLAs in the last five years were studied.
The study showed that from 2009 to 2019, there has been an increase of 231 per cent in the number of candidates with declared cases of crime against women contesting in Lok Sabha elections. For the same period, there has been an increase of 850 per cent in the number of MPs with declared cases of crime against women in the Lok Sabha.
In the last five years, a total of 572 candidates with declared criminal cases related to crime against women contested in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and Assembly elections. None of them have been convicted, showed the study by the ADR.
A total of 410 candidates who had declared cases related to crimes against women were given tickets by recognised political parties. Among them, 89 candidates were given tickets by parties for Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha elections and 321 candidates for state Assembly elections.
As many as 162 independent candidates with declared cases of crime against women had contested the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha and state elections in the last five years.
In the last five years, 35 independent candidates with declared cases related to crimes against women contested in the Parliamentary elections. Similarly, 127 independent candidates with declared cases related to crimes against women contested in the state polls.
According to the ADR, this clearly depicts that political parties are not concerned about the issue of crime against women. “Appallingly, the political parties which are led by women, such as INC, BSP and AITC, have been fielding candidates with declared cases related to crime against women,” ADR said.
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Among the recognised parties, the BJP has the highest number of legislators who have declared cases related to crimes against women—21. The BJP was followed by the Congress with 16 and YSRCP with seven MPs or MLAs.
Among the major parties in the last five years, 66 candidates with declared cases related to crimes against women were given tickets by the BJP. The second-highest number of candidates, 46, were given tickets by the Congress, followed by 40 candidates from the BSP.
In the last five years, recognised parties have given tickets to 41 candidates who had declared cases related to rape.
Among the states, West Bengal has the highest number of MPs or MLAs who declared cases related to crime against women—16. West Bengal was followed by Odisha and Maharashtra each with 12 such lawmakers.