Mumbai: A majority -31- of the newly-elected 48 Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra have a criminal background and are also multi-millionaires with assets ranging from a minimum of Rs.99 lakh to Rs.66 crore.
The 31 Lok Sabha members who belong to the Shiv Sena, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Swabhimani Paksha - all allies - and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have various types of criminal records.
The number of criminal cases filed against the candidates range from just one to 13, according to their affidavits filed along with their nomination papers with the Election Commission.
Shrirang Barne, the Shiv Sena MP from Maval, did not manage to complete his schooling. But he is the richest among the lot with assets of around Rs.66 crore.
Two of the seniormost BJP leaders - Nitin Gadkari from Nagpur and Gopinath Munde from Beed - have four and three criminal cases registered against them.
