Should Criminal MPs be stripped of their seats?

Even Koda has lots to say
By PHEROZE L. VINCENT

New Delhi, Aug. 6: Tihar Jail's latest high-profile guest Madhu Koda, who has been transferred here from Chaibasa Central Jail so that he can attend the monsoon session of Parliament, is determined to keep himself on the political radar.
And he hopes to do that by speaking about Jharia's underground fire victims, compensation for land losers in a railway project and seeking the diversion of a train via his pocket borough of Chaibasa.
Will it work? Koda, the state's only Independent chief minister so far, believes it already is working.
In a t�te-�-t�te with The Telegraph, in police presence in the security cell at the Raisina Road gate of Parliament, the undertrial MP from Chaibasa spelt out his agenda for this session and also spoke about his political future and relevance to Jharkhand.
"I am in Parliament to ask for the Puri-Nizamuddin Express to be diverted via Chakradharpur, Kharsawan and Chaibasa thrice a week. Also the railways had promised jobs to those whose land was acquired for a siding at Padapahar Junction. I am here to ask where the jobs are," he says.
As if to justify his demand, he takes recourse to a well-established fact that Chakradharpur division earned the highest royalty for the Eastern Railways from the mineral ores it loads.
Yet, he asks in mock bewilderment, after the Jnaneswari train bombing in Bengal, passenger trains had been diverted and night trains stopped in the Maoist-hit area causing inconvenience to scores of passengers.
In the vicinity of MPs Suresh Kalmadi, Kanimozhi and A. Raja in Tihar, Koda insists he has had no contact with them. Recently, a Delhi High Court judge had denied Kalmadi permission to attend Parliament saying that the government would not fall if he absented himself.
Koda was luckier, as the Jharkhand Vigilance Court gave him permission.
The Delhi Police bring him in a jail van every morning at 9.30 and pick him up at 5 in the evening from Parliament. While the police handover takes place, he chats with his man Friday Vinod Verma and lawyer Himanshu Shekhar.
Palamau MP Kameshwar Baitha's assistant Tapiram, too, drops in to the security cell durbar to say hello. Baitha, now out on bail, had done the Tihar to Parliament routine in the past.
Shahi surrenders in CBI court, Page 6
Koda, who has come to symbolise all that's considered wrong with Jharkhand, gave unique insights into what he thinks is actually wrong with the state.
"Companies can legally export only 62 per cent of iron ore. They illegally smuggle out higher quantities from our state… Mining firms, especially PSUs, do not give land to reclaim for afforestation once they get mines in forests… Jharia is sinking with coal fires yet there is only selective compensation and no safety zone. This is why I have to come to Parliament," he rattles off, the passionate speech drawing a chuckle even from his Nestor-esque police escort.
Koda is accused of illegally allotting mining licences and money laundering. He is alleged to have invested his ill-gotten wealth in a Liberia coal mine among various other business interests in India and abroad.
Ironically, he blamed the abrupt end of his meteoric ascent in politics on the lack of transparency and "unscrupulous individuals" who misused his name.
"When I was chief minister, I left day-to-day administration to the inspector-raj. But people will blame me when things go wrong. After all they voted for me. I introduced municipal polls after 27 years for the sole purpose of bringing transparency through decentralisation. The one thing I want to change is the opaque system of governance."
Having hop-skipped and jumped from the Ajsu to the BJP and finally the UPA, the now marginalised Koda smiled when Arjun Munda's name came up.
"They call me a criminal. But when I was chief minister, I brought Jindal Steel, Koderma's NTPC plant and the Tata-DVC joint venture power project in Dhanbad. There were no communal riots and I was considered approachable. Do I even need to say anything against Munda? Look at his government stumbling from crisis to crisis," he remarks.
In a jail for almost two years, Koda has had a lot of time to clear his head and put things in perspective. "For long-term organised work being in a party works better… No doors ever close in politics and I always keep my options open… If my detention continues, Gita (wife) will continue to solve people's problems."
Gita (26), an MLA from Jagannathpur, is the youngest member of the Vidhan Sabha and often accompanies her husband to Parliament.
"But how long will I remain inside," he ruminates. "I've been cooperating with investigators for two years. Where's the law? Is there any limit to this incarceration?"


The above is from the Telegraph
I have posted this for, Koda, is one of the few chief ministers in India's 64 years history who has been sent to jail ?
Is there no provision where an MP is stripped of his seat once he is convicted.
If there isn't, this should be included by Anna in the Lok pal recommendation.
Scoundrels like Kalamadi, Koda and Kanimojhi are now giving an excuse of attending parliament so that they can escape jail terms
I wonder if the three have any relations with Ekta Kapoor.
Like her serials, their names also start with a "K"