Shivanna puts state on corruption map

Chamarajnagar and 19 other constituencies have MPs with criminal cases against them

Shivanna puts state on corruption map

Chamarajnagar and 19 other constituencies have MPs with criminal cases against them

Karnataka's Chamarajnagar is one of the 20 red-alert constituencies in the country whose MPs have the most serious criminal records.

The list was prepared by National Election Watch, a nationwide campaign comprising more than 1,200 NGOs and citizen-led organisations working for electoral reforms. The list includes only those constituencies where the MPs have serious criminal cases like murder, attempt to murder, rape, extortion, kidnapping, robbery and dacoity against them. It has demanded a new set of candidates from these constituencies and will hold special campaigns.

Other cases include causing grievous hurt with dangerous weapons, damaging property with fire or explosives and hurting public servants to prevent them from carrying out their duties.

Speculation is rife that Shivanna, who won the election on a JD(S) ticket last time, may join the Congress this time. When MiD DAY contacted him, he was not available. His daughter said he did not have a cellphone and was not reachable.

Bihar tops the tainted list with five constituencies, followed by UP with four. There are three MPs from West Bengal, two from Madhya Pradesh and one each from Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.u00a0

Former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu of the BJP brought Punjab's Amritsar constituency to the list. He faces charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, murder and causing hurt.

Among the MPs, Uttar Pradesh's Atique Ahamad from Phulpur constituency tops the list. This Samajwadi Party MP has 37 cases against him, including seven cases of murder and six cases of attempt to murder, besides extortion, dacoity and robbery.

He is followed by UP's Mitrasen Bhagoti of the BSP from Faizabad constituency. He has 28 cases against him including three cases of murder, 10 cases of attempt to murder, six cases of dacoity and three cases of robbery along with extortion, cheating, forgery and rioting.

UP's Akshay Pratap Singh alias Gopalji from Pratapgarh constituency and SP party has 26 cases against him which include offences under POTA, Gangster Act and Arms Act. He also has cases of murder, kidnapping, attempt to murder and poisoning.

BSP's Umakant Yadav from Machhlishar in UP also has eight cases against him.

Bihar's Mohammad Sabauddin from Siwan constituency has 19 cases, Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav from Purnea has 10 cases, Taslimuddin from Krishnaganj has nine cases, Suraj Singh of Balia and Anirudh Prasad alias Sadhu Yadav follow.

Tainted list
The others with serious cases are:
Madhya Pradesh: Dr Ram Lakhan Singh, Chhatar Singh Barbar.
West Bengal: Rupchand Murmu, Abdul Mannan Hussain and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury
Andhra Pradesh: Suryavaram Sudhakar
Kerala: N N Krishna Das
Tamil Nadu: Kuppusami C
Jharkhand: Furkan Ansari

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