153 Criminals in the new Parliament

MPs with criminal records
The Sentinel, Gauhati
: By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, May 20: With the conclusion of the 15th parlia-mentary elections in the country, people across the world have gone overboard, terming the entire event as the largest democratic exercise in the world. The hearts of the people in the country are also brimming with the hope that their elected representatives would solve their sorrow and woes. But have the people of India chosen their representatives well?
According to a report compiled by the National Election Watch, the number of MPs with a criminal record has gone up this year. There are as many as 153 MPs with a criminal record in the 15th Lok Sabha, with serious accusations under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) levelled against 74 of them. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tops the list with 43 MPs, the Congress comes a close second with 41 such MPs.
JMM MP for Palamau in Jharkhand Kameswar Baitha tops the list of top 10 MPs with a criminal background, which has been prepared by the National Election Watch. Baitha is accused in 35 cases and has 50 serious charges levelled against him under the IPC. JDU MP for Jahanabad in Bihar Jagadish Sharma, who is accused in six cases and has 17 serious charges levelled against him, follows a close second, while Samajwadi Party MP for Mirzapur constituency in Uttar Pradesh Bal Kumar Patel is accused in 10 cases and has 13 serious charges levelled against him.
The other MPs in the list are: BJP MP for Panchamahal in Gujarat Prabhatsinh Pratapsinh Chauvan, who is accused in 3 cases and has 10 serious charges levelled against him; BSP MP for Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh Kapil Muni Karwariya, who is accused in 4 cases and has 8 serious charges levelled against him; CPI-M MP P Karunakaran, who is accused in 12 cases and has 6 serious charges levelled against him; Congress MP for Rajkot Kunvarji Mohanbhai Bavaliya, who is accused in two cases and has six serious charges against him; Congress MP Vittalbhai Hansr-ajbhai Radadiya, who is accused in 16 cases and has five serious charges levelled against him; Samajwadi Party MP for Chandauli in Uttar Pradesh Ramkishun, who is accused in 10 cases and has five serious charges levelled against him, and RJD MP for Saran in Bihar Lalu Prasad Yadav, who is accused in 7 cases and has five serious cases registered against him.


I would like to congratulate Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for giving us 41 Criminal MPs.
No, I have not forgotten L K Advani. Advaniji, please accept my congratulations for foisting on us 43 criminals as MPs.
It just shows that Swami Ramdeo was right when he warned all political parties of putting up honest or he will have to decide to support or put up honest candidates in the next elections.
The political parties have lost the last opportunity.
Now, we depend only on Swami Ramdeo