Pratik Sinha

As many as 76 sitting MPs of various political parties face serious criminal charges and could be disqualified if convicted for over 2 years. BJP leads the list with 18 MPs while the Congress has 14 MPs with criminal record, Samajwadi Party with 8, BSP with 6, AIADMK with 4, JD(U) with 3 and CPI(M) with 2 are followed by 17 MPs from the smaller parties with serious criminal charges against them.

If Modi’s right hand man, Amit Shah, decides to contest the 2014 elections, then we will have a triple murder accused vying for peoples votes and wanting a place in the Indian Parliament.

The issue has gained significance after a Delhi court convicted Congress MP Rashid Masood in the MBBS scam case and a CBI court in Ranchi convicted RJD chief Lalu Yadav in the multi-crore fodder scam case. As per the July 10, 2013 Supreme Court judgment, convictions under section 8(1), 8(2) and 8(3) will lead to disqualification of MPs and MLAs.