By Pheroze L. Vincent
An analysis of election affidavits by poll watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) reveals that out of the 72 new ministers, 19 have serious criminal cases.
Eight ministers face FIRs for alleged hate speeches, and two — both from Bengal — are accused of attempted murder.
Minister of state George Kurian has not been analysed as he has not yet been elected to Parliament. His affidavit for the 2016 Kerala polls had no criminal antecedents.
Some of the cases against the ministers date back to more than five years ago and none of them have been convicted yet. Once convicted, they won’t be able to contest polls for six years after being released from jail if the sentence is for more than two years.
The ones accused of hate speech include ministers Amit Shah, Giriraj Singh, and Dharmendra Pradhan, and junior ministers Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Shantanu Thakur, Sukanta Majumdar, Shobha Karandlaje and Nityanand Rai. Thakur and Majumdar also face FIRs for attempt to murder.
This story was originally published in telegraphindia.com. Read the full story here.