150 newly elected MPs have criminal records

July 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The newly elected MPs will get tips on how to ask questions in the house and the other parliamentary proceedings at an orientation programme being organised by the Lok Sabha Secretariat next week. "The orientation programme will cover issues such as parliamentary questions and other procedural devices available to members to raise issues on the floor of the house, parliamentary committees, parliamentary privileges, budgetary process, etc.," said a release issued by the Lok Sabha Wednesday.

May 23rd, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - Former central minister Arjun Charan Sethi was Saturday elected the leader of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) parliamentary party in the Lok Sabha. Sethi was elected unanimously at a meeting of newly elected BJD Lok Sabha members at Naveen Nivas, the official residence of Orissa Chief Minister and party chief Naveen Patnaik.

May 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The first session of the 15th Lok Sabha will begin June 1. The decision was taken Saturday at the first meeting of the cabinet that was sworn in Friday.

May 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Manmohan Singh was Tuesday elected leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party, with party president Sonia Gandhi saying his record of the last five years was an inspiration for all. Sonia Gandhi proposed Manmohan Singh's name at a meeting of the newly-elected Congress MPs held at parliament's Central Hall.

May 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government should set an example by not giving a ministerial berth to any MP with a criminal background, a NGO Said Tuesday. 'With the unambiguous mandate, it is expected that the Congress and the UPA will provide clean and exemplary governance.

May 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Election Commission will formally submit the list of newly-elected Lok Sabha members to President Pratibha Patil on Monday. The new House is constituted by the Election Commission, which performs this work within two to three days of declaration of results.

May 18th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Uttar Pradesh has once again set a record of sending the maximum number of tainted MPs to the Lok Sabha - 31 of the state's 80 MPs have criminal cases pending against them. Out of these 31, as many as 22 have serious criminal charges against them, according to figures released by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an umbrella organisation of NGOs that monitors elections.

May 17th, 2009 JAMMU - Three of the six newly elected MPs from Jammu and Kashmir had lost the assembly polls last year. National Conference leader Mehboob Beg who won south Kashmir constituency Anantnag had lost to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed at Anantnag in the November-December assembly elections.

May 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The candidates for the fourth phase of polls Thursday is a mixed bag - 164 have criminal records and 259 are millionaires, a survey said Tuesday. According to the study by the National Election Watch (NEW), '12 percent of the total 1,306 candidates in fray for the fourth phase have criminal records'.

April 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The third phase of polls April 30 has a mixed bag of candidates with 258 nominees having criminal records and 223 millionaires, a study by an NGO said Monday. According to an analysis by the National Election Watch (NEW), 'of 1,567 candidates in the fray for the third phase, NEW analysed affidavits of 1,492 candidates.

April 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Nearly 300 candidates with criminal records from different political parties are fighting the second phase of Lok Sabha polls on April 23, with the Congress party topping the list with 40, according to a survey. According to an analysis by an NGO, National Election Watch, of the 1,425 candidates in the fray for the second phase, 288 have criminal records.

April 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Nearly 300 candidates with criminal records from different political parties are fighting the second phase of Lok Sabha polls on April 23, with the Congress party topping the list with 40, according to a survey. According to an analysis by an NGO, National Election Watch, of the 1,425 candidates in the fray for the second phase, 288 have criminal records.

April 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Nearly 300 candidates with criminal records from different political parties are fighting the second phase of Lok Sabha polls on April 23, with the Congress party topping the list with 40, according to a survey. According to an analysis by an NGO, National Election Watch, of the 1,425 candidates in the fray for the second phase, 288 have criminal records.

March 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - As many as 29 Lok Sabha candidates from various parties have criminal records, according to an analysis made as part of a national campaign by NGOs. The parties fielding these candidates include the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), the Communist Party of India (CPI), and the Samajwadi Party, the National Election Watch (NEW) said in a statement Thursday.

December 28th, 2008 RAIPUR - The maiden session of the third legislative assembly of Chhattisgarh will be held in January, assembly officials said Monday. The two-day session of the 90-member assembly will be held Jan 5 and 9.