Several candidates have a low level of literacy, but know just enough about social media to know it is important to have a presence there.
With the latest expansion of the Union Council of Ministers, the total number of crorepatis there has risen to 72, while the number of those with declared criminal cases is up at 24, a study said.
83 MLAs from the BJP, 11 from the SP, four from the BSP, one from the Congress and three Independents have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
A day after the Congress brainstormed over its electoral reverses, senior leader M Veerappa Moily on Monday said Sonia Gandhi should take "full control" of the party with a free hand to change non-performing leaders, and asserted that a "mere culture of tweets and social media propaganda" would not take the organisation forward.
As per the report, out of 612 candidates, 168 (27 per cent) are crorepatis.
Disclosing details of his assets, he said the reports about the rise in his wealth had been done without checking facts.
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Disclosing details of his assets, he said the reports about the rise in his wealth had been done without checking facts.
The National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms have analysed the affidavits of 165 MPs who were elected again in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Among MLAs with criminal cases, 33 have declared serious cases including cases related to murder, attempt to murder, dacoity, robbery etc.
The Association for Democratic Reforms has urged political parties to refrain from giving tickets to candidates who are facing serious criminal charges and asked them to disclose the criteria for the selection of candidates during elections.
The average assets of an MP are now 345.8 times that of an annual income of a tax-filing individual, reports Sachin P Mampatta.
A public interest litigation has been filed in the Bombay high court stating that IPL matches must be shifted out of Maharashtra owing to the acute shortage of water in the state. Advocate Ankita Verma, Partner, DM Legal Associates, advocates for the petitioners, tells Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf how hosting the IPL in Maharashtra is tantamount to wasting huge amounts of water.
The average asset of a Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament is Rs 20.17 crore, says a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms. It also says that 67 per cent of Rajya Sabha MP's are crorepatis.
Of the 142 candidates contesting in the 2013 Mizoram assembly elections, only three candidates have registered criminal cases against them. Two of them are facing serious criminal charges.
Of the 137 candidates having criminal records, 78 candidates are facing serious cases such as murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and rape.
Several Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assembly have declared cases in which they have been charged with inciting communal tension. The Association for Democratic Reforms in a report gives details of elected representatives with such charges.
For some of the business majors, the fund outgo for the 2019 elections has risen as much as 15 to 20 times, compared to the amount given to political parties five years ago.
The Modi government could steer through Parliament 59 out of 75 Bills.
1581 MPs with criminal background will elect next President of India.
'No Indian political party functions in a democratic way.'
The legendary Seshan was not keeping good health for the past couple of years and he passed away at about 9.30 pm, a senior police official told PTI.
Nearly 57 per cent of total income of five national parties during financial year 2013-14 was from sale of coupons (smaller donations), a leading election watchdog NGO has said.
'Whatever the reforms the Supreme Court has approved for BCCI, it won't be possible to implement it all.'
"A clean break from the past is essential for FIFA to climb out of the toxic pit which continues to produce serious accusations of corrupt behaviour on almost a daily basis," FIFPro said in a statement.
A latest survey by the Association for Democratic Reforms reveals that 14 criminals and 50 crorepatis will be contesting the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.
India has helped the world discover the true potential of democracy and the keyword for the country today is compassion for the downtrodden, needy and those on the margins, President Droupadi Murmu said on Sunday.
Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram will go to polls with 879 candidates with pending criminal cases.
The Supreme Court's verdict -- giving the voter the right to reject a candidate through negative voting under Rule 49 O in the Conduct of Elections Rules -- is a landmark one.
'There should be total transparency in the system.'
'The most fundamental flaw with the electoral bond scheme is that it is designed to make anonymous donations.' 'It makes it easy for black money holders as well as corrupt corporates to donate money to the ruling party and ask for a quid pro quo without anybody getting any idea about it.'
Regional political parties received a total of Rs 91.37 crore in donations in 2016-17.
Lead players in the poll-bound state are understood to be re-working their strategies on how to manage the campaign with less money with Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes becoming illegal tender in one stroke.
Jagdish Chhokar, founder-member of the Association for Democratic Reforms says there should be a law to regulate the functioning of political parties.
Cash collections accounted for a whopping 63 per cent of total funds or over Rs 2,100 crore garnered by various political parties during all state assembly polls between 2004 and 2015, a study showed on Monday.
Around 62 per cent newly-elected legislators have criminal cases against them in Kerala, while 32 per cent in West Bengal face serious charges including murder and crime against women, a report said on Friday.
BJP received chunk of the funds at Rs 437.04 crore, while Congress got Rs 26.65 crore.
Polling in Phase II of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections consists of 67 constituencies spread across 11 districts.
The BJP has 17 out of 53 candidates (32 per cent) with criminal cases. The Congress has 11 out of 39 (28 per cent) candidates with criminal cases.
Of the 294 candidates declared with serious criminal cases, 76 were from the TMC, 52 from the BJP, 47 from the CPI-M and 31 from the Congress.
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