57 per cent of MLAs with criminal cases got more than 50 per cent votes in their constituencies
BENGALURU: MLAs with criminal cases against them had a relatively better outing than others in the Karnataka State Assembly elections, according to an analysis of vote shares by the Association of Democratic Reforms.
The report, which was released on Friday, showed that 44 of the 77 MLAs with criminal cases, secured more than 50 per cent of the votes in their constituency. In contrast, only 55 of the remaining 145 MLAs without criminal cases were able to secure more than 50 per cent of the votes polled in their assembly segment.
This implies that 57 per cent of the MLAs with criminal cases secured more than 50 per cent of the votes in their constituency, as against just 38 per cent of the MLAs without any complaints against them.
The analysis was of the results of 222 seats, for which elections were held on May 12.Of the 77 MLAs with criminal cases, 49 won against candidates with a clean background. However, such candidates put up a tough fight as only 12 of these winners could win with a margin of more than 20 percent of the votes polled. Among candidates with criminal background, highest margin of victory was for Dr Ashwath Narayan, BJP candidate from Malleswaram constituency, who won by a margin of 54,000 votes.
In terms of vote share, a total of 99 candidates secured more than 50 percent of the votes polled in the constituency, while the remaining 123 candidates got less than 50 percent.
Considering different parties, proportion of Congress winning with margins of less than 50 per cent of the total votes polled was more than that of BJP and JD(S). While 53 of the 104 BJP MLAs — which is 51% — won by the said margin, 48 of the 78 Congress MLAs (61%) secured narrow wins. In JD(S), half of its winning MLAs got votes in excess of 50 percent of the total votes polled.
Victory margins
Five MLAs have won with a margin of 1,000 votes or less in the elections. Of the five candidates, four with the least margin of victory were Congress candidates — Pratapgouda Patil from Maski (213 vote margin), Venkataramanappa from Pavagad (409 votes), Basavangouda Patil from Hirekerur (555 votes) and Channabasappa Shivalli from Kundgol (634 votes) — and one was BJP candidate from Aland, Subash Guttedar, who won by 697 votes. Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s narrow win over BJPs B Sriramulu by 1,696 votes was the eighth least margin of victory.
Representativeness
According to the report, all the winners in the elections won by securing votes of an average of 36 percent of the total registered electorate in the constituency. “This implies that the winners represents on an average, 36 per cent of the total electorate. In Karnataka State Assembly elections 2013 (candidates) won by an average of 32 per cent of the total registered voters.