M A I N   N E W S

315 crorepati MPs in 15th Lok Sabha!
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 20
Our honourable MPs have been bombarded with criticism following the Cabinet’s nod to the three-fold salary-hike. And now that many of them are agitating for a bigger hike, the common man is wondering when they would get down to resolving issues like soaring inflation staring in the face of the country.

“The salary hike issue is very self fulfilling and self serving and now they are rooting to make it even bigger,” says Anil Bairwal of National Election Watch (NEW), an organisation which in the past has come out with interesting data on Indian politicians, including a list of crorepatis and criminals MPs.

“Is salary hike the biggest problem that Indian democracy is facing when more than 70 per cent of Indians is facing when more than 70 per cent of Indiansare living on just Rs 20 a day,” he wonders. According to the data released by NEW, of the 315 crorepati MPs in the present House, 146 are from the Congress, 59 from the BJP, 14 from SP, 13 each from the BSP and the DMK, eight of the JD (U) and seven from the AITC. In Congress, the average assets per MP is Rs 5.9 crore and in the BJP, it is Rs 3.4 crore. The average asset for a MP in the country is Rs 4.5 crore.

Bairwal says the figures prove that only those people were entering politics who already had the money power to back them.

“The reasons being given for the salary hike is that our politicians need money to survive, which is nonsense because as you can see 315 of present Lok Sabha MPs are croreparties. Another reason being given is that better emoluments will help attract better people into politics also doesn’t hold ground. There are 162 MPs in the Lok Sabha with criminal charges, out of which 76 have serious criminal charges like murders, theft and abduction pending against them,” he contends.

As per the NEW data, the 14th Lok Sabha had 128 MPs with criminal charges, out of which 58 had serious charges against them. The data proves that the number of people with criminal records is increasing in the Parliament and Bairwal’s question is that will the salary hike ensure that politicians with criminal background will not be allowed to contest elections.

A senior politician agrees that political parties prefer to give tickets to people who either have money power or muscle power. So the big question is that will this increase in salary help solve that problem considering that there is a complete lack of transparency in funding and functioning of political parties.