According to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a poll rights organization, there are a total of 107 Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) in India who have had hate speech cases registered against them. This information was obtained from self-sworn affidavits that lawmakers submitted prior to their most recent contested elections. The ADR, in collaboration with the National Election Watch (NEW), analyzed this data.
Additionally, the analysis revealed that over the past five years, a total of 480 candidates who had declared hate speech cases contested elections to state assemblies, the Lok Sabha (the lower house of India's Parliament), and the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of India's Parliament).
Of these MPs, 33 have declared hate speech cases against themselves. These individuals hail from various states, with seven from Uttar Pradesh, four from Tamil Nadu, and three each from Bihar, Karnataka, and Telangana. Furthermore, two MPs each with declared hate speech cases come from Assam, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and West Bengal, while one MP each falls under the categories of Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Odisha, and Punjab, as reported by the ADR.
The ADR also noted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has the highest number of MPs with hate speech cases, totaling 22. Other political parties with MPs facing such cases include the Congress (two MPs), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), AIMIM, AIUDF, DMK, MDMK, PMK, Shiv Sena, and the VCK, in addition to one Independent MP.
Meanwhile, a total of 74 MLAs have declared hate speech cases against themselves. This includes nine MLAs each from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, six each from Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Telangana, five each from Assam and Tamil Nadu, four each from Delhi, Gujarat, and West Bengal, three each from Jharkhand and Uttarakhand, two each from Karnataka, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Tripura, and one each from Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.
Among the MLAs, 20 of them with declared hate speech cases belong to the BJP, while 13 are affiliated with the Congress. Other political parties represented among these MLAs include the AAP (six MLAs), SP (Samajwadi Party) and YSRCP (Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party) with five each, DMK and RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) with four each, and three each from AITC (All India Trinamool Congress) and SHS (Shiv Sena). Two MLAs are associated with the AIUDF, and there is one MLA each from AIMIM, CPI(M), NCP (Nationalist Congress Party), Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, TDP (Telugu Desam Party), Tipra Motha Party, and TRS (Telangana Rashtra Samithi), along with two Independent MLAs.
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