NEW DELHI: While political parties keep accusing each other of indulging in hate mongering, election affidavits of several VBK-TRAINlawmakers have revealed that at least 58 MPs and MLAs from across party lines have cases related to hate speech against them.
As per a report by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW), 15 sitting Lok Sabha MPs have declared cases related to hate speech against themselves. The analysis is based on the affidavits submitted by the candidates and MPs/MLAs prior to the last election they contested.

Of those who have listed cases of hate speech against them, 10 are sitting Lok Sabha MPs belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Others include 1 each from the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Shiv Sena (SHS).
Fouty three sitting MLAs have declared cases related to hate speech against themselves. Of these, 17 belong to the BJP, 5 each are from the TRS and AIMIM, 3 are from TDP, 2 each from Congress, All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), Janata Dal United (JDU) and Shiv Sena, 1 each from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP) and 2 are Independent MLAs.
Eleven sitting MLAs with declared cases related to hate speech are from Telangana, four belong to Bihar, 9 are from Uttar Pradesh, 4 from Maharashtra, 3 each from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and 2 each from Uttarakhand and West Bengal. One MLA each from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Jharkhand also have declared cases related to hate speech against them.

Among the ministers, Union Minister Uma Bharti has declared cases of hate speech against her while there are 8 state ministers also who have similar cases against themselves. Political party leaders such as Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM) and Badruddin Ajmal (AIUDF) also have declared cases against them.

In the last 5 years, 198 candidates with such declared cases have contested elections for state assemblies, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. In last5 years, 141 candidates from recognized political parties and 29 candidates from unrecognized political parties have given ticket to such type of candidates. In last 5 years, 28 independent candidates with similar cases have contested the elections for state Assemblies, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Cases related to crimes against women are pending against 48 sitting legislators, three of whom have unresolved charges of rape against them, says a report released amid a national reckoning over the difficult path to justice for women and girls as reflected in the Kathua and Unnao rape cases.

Among the 48 legislators, three are currently members of Parliament (MPs) while the rest are MLAs in state assemblies across the country, according to the report released on Thursday by election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms.

The findings are based on an analysis of nearly 4,800-odd election affidavits, including 768 belonging to MPs from both houses of Parliament and 4,077 members of state legislative assemblies.

The total number of candidates (winners as well as losers) who were facing similar charges but were still given tickets in various elections over the past five years is even higher at 327 among registered parties alone.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) backed the highest number of such candidates, with 47 of its candidates declaring past cases of crimes against women in their affidavit.The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) comes second with 35 candidates and the Congress third with 24 such candidates.The second and third spots are held by the Shiv Sena (7) and the All India Trinamool Congress (6), respectively.(With Agency Inputs ).

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