LUCKNOW: At least 11 newly elected MPs — eight from the INDIA bloc, two from NDA and one from Azad Samaj Party — have roadblocks on their way to Parliament. All these 11 MPs have criminal cases against them in which charge sheets have been filed under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections in which minimum punishment is two of imprisonment. If convicted and sentenced for two or more than two years, these MPs stand to lose their seat in Parliament.
Among them is SP’s Babu Singh Kushwaha, who secured a victory on a Samajwadi Party ticket from Jaunpur. Kushwaha is embroiled in several cases, including those related to the National Rural Health Mission and possession of disproportionate assets. Facing a total of 25 cases, he finds charges framed against him in eight, each carrying a minimum punishment of 10 years. Additionally, he faces charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act with a minimum quantum of punishment of two years.
Afzal Ansari (SP), who emerged victorious from Ghazipur, has five criminal cases against him. After he was served a four-year sentence in a Gangsters Act case, he lost the LS membership. However, the Supreme Court suspended his sentence and his membership was restored. However, his case remains pending in the high court, with the next hearing slated for July 30.
Dharmendra Yadav, the SP MP from Azamgarh, faces four cases. Among the charges is IPC 270, pertaining to spreading a disease dangerous to life, which carries a punishment of two years.
Chandrashekhar Azad, who won from Nagina under the banner of his Azad Samaj Party, faces 36 cases, many involving serious offences. Charges have been framed against him in three separate cases, each carrying punishment exceeding two years.
SP’s Ram Bhual Nishad, who defeated Maneka Gandhi in Sultanpur, faces eight cases, including a Gangsters Act case in which charges have been framed, with a minimum punishment of two years.
Congress’s Imran Masood, elected from Saharanpur, faces eight cases, including a money laundering case filed by the ED, with charges framed in two cases carrying punishments of two years.
Birendra Singh, the SP MP from Chandauli, faces three serious cases, with charges framed in one entailing punishment exceeding two years.
Others include BJP’s two-time Fathepur Sikri MP Rajkumar Chahar, who faces two cases and charges being framed in one case entailing over two years’ punishment. SP’s RK Chaudhary, who won from Mohanlalganj, faces two cases as well, with charges framed in one case in which the punishment exceeds two years.
Similarly, Ram Prasad Chaudhary, the SP MP from Basti, faces four cases, with two involving charges exceeding two years’ punishment. Rajkumar Sangwan, who won from Baghpat on an RLD ticket, faces two cases, one of which carries a punishment exceeding two years.