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The hue and cry against criminalisation of politics notwithstanding, the voters of Punjab this time have elected 19 per cent MLAs, who have criminal cases pending against them. The situation is more alarming in Uttar Pradesh with almost half of the 224 newly elected Samajwadi Party MLAs facing criminal cases. Almost 25 per cent of these are facing cases with serious criminal charges like murder, attempt to murder, theft, robbery etc.
In Uttarakhand, 19 of the 70 newly elected MLAs have criminal background, according to Uttarakhand Election Watch.
Of the 117 legislatures in Punjab analysed by Punjab Election Watch, 22 (19%) have criminal cases pending against them. As many as eight MLAs (7 per cent) are facing serious criminal cases. In the Punjab 2007 Assembly elections, 21 (18%) were facing criminal cases.
