Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Tripura Election Watch have analyzed the criminal, financial and other background details of 53 out of 60 sitting MLAs. In the current assembly 7 seats are vacant. The organisation in a statement said this analysis is based on the affidavits submitted by the candidates prior to the 2018 Assembly elections and bye elections conducted thereafter.

Criminal Background of the MLAs the report says:

·   MLAs with criminal cases: Out of 53 sitting MLAs analysed, 11(21%) MLAs have declared criminal cases against themselves.

·   MLAs with serious criminal cases: 9 (17%) MLAs have declared serious criminal cases.

·   Party wise sitting MLAs with criminal cases: 8 (24%) out of 33 MLAs from BJP, 1 (7%) out of 15 MLAs from CPI(M), 1 (25%) out of 4 MLAs from IPFT and 1 (100%) INC MLA have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

·   Party wise sitting MLAs with serious criminal cases: 6 (18%) out of 33 MLAs from BJP, 1 (7%) out of 15 MLAs from CPI(M), 1 (25%) out of 4 MLAs from IPFT and 1 (100%) INC MLA have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Giving the Financial Background of the MLAs, the report says:

·   Crorepati MLAs: Out of 53 sitting MLAs analysed , 15 (28%) are crorepatis.

·   Party wise crorepati MLAs: 13 (39%) out of 33 MLAs from BJP, 1 (7%) out of 15 MLAs from CPI(M) and 1 (100%) INC MLA has declared assets valued more than Rs 1 crore.

Figure: Party Wise Percentage of Crorepati MLAs

·   Average assets: The average of assets per sitting MLA is Rs.1.34 crore.

·   Party wise average assets: The average assets per MLA for 33 BJP MLAs analysed is Rs.1.67 crores, 15 CPI(M) MLAs analysed is Rs.50 lakhs, 4 IPFT MLAs analysed is Rs.4.49 lakhs and 1 INC MLA has average assets of Rs.8.20 crores.

The report also identified three MLAs who have highest movable and immovable assets and hree MLAs who have lowest assets.

Two among the three MLAs having highest asset belongs to BJP. They are Jishnu Debbarman (11 crore) and Dr Manik Saha (8 crore). The lone Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman (8 crore) the third richest man among the MLAs.   

Among the three MLAs having lowest asset includes Prem Kumar Jamatia of IPFT (1,13,334 Lacs), Sambhu Lal Chakma od BJP(1,33,286) AND Santana Chakma of BJP( 1,39,036)

Sudip Roy Barman of Congress (1 crore), Biplab Kumar Ghosh of BJP (69 Lacs) and Sushanta Choudhury of BJP (48 Lacks) are having highest liabilities.

Other Background Details in the report:

·   Education Details of MLAs:  26 (49%) MLAs have declared their educational qualification to be between 8th pass and  12th pass while 27 (51%) MLAs have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above.

·   Age details of MLAs:  21 (40%) MLAs have declared their age to be between 25 and 50 years while 32 (60%) MLAs have declared their age to be between 51 and 80 years.

·   Gender details of MLAs: Out of 53 MLAs analysed, 6 (11%) MLAs are women.