Over 100 MPs, MLAs face hate speech cases, BJP accounts for 40% of total

A little over 100 MPs and MLAs have cases that fall under ‘hate speech’ as identified by the Law Commission, with the BJP accounting for around 40 per cent among them, according to analysis by a private election watchdog.

Out of the 4,768 MPs and MLAs analysed by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), 107 lawmakers have cases that can be clubbed under hate speech out of which BJP has the highest with 42 followed by Congress with 15.

Of the 107 lawmakers, 33 are MPs and 74 are MLAs. AAP follows BJP and Congress with seven such lawmakers. DMK, Samajwadi Party and YSR Congress have five such lawmakers each while RJD has four.

According to the Law Commission, Sections 124(A), 153(A), 153(B), 295(A), 298, 505(1) and 505 (2) of Indian Penal Code and relevant sections in other statutes have bearing on hate speech. The analysis is based on the self declared affidavits by candidates.

As per the ADR list, ministers and MPs like Amit Shah, Pralhad Joshi, Giriraj Singh, Shobha Karanlaje, Nityanand Rai, Dilip Ghosh, Pragya Thakur, Nishikant Dubey, Anantkumar Hegde, Asaduddin Owaisi, Badrudin Ajmal, Shashi Tharoor, Kanimozhi, Sanjay Raut, Raghav Chadha and Vaiko have cases of hate speech against them.

Among MLAs, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Jignesh Mevani, Akhil Gogoi, Somnath Bharti, Abu Azmi and Babul Supriyo have hate speech cases against them.

The report comes days after BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri made communal remarks against BSP’s Danish Ali in Lok Sabha. Following an outrage, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has referred the issue to Privileges Committee, amid Opposition demand for Bidhuri’s suspension.

Among MPs, Uttar Pradesh tops the list with seven lawmakers having hate speech cases followed by Tamil Nadu (4), Bihar, Karnataka and Telangana (3 each), Assam, Gujarat, Maharashtra and West Bengal (2 each) and Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Odisha and Punjab (one each).

If one takes the party-wise list, BJP with 22 MPs tops the list followed by Congress with two and one each from AAP, AIMIM, AIUDF, DMK, MDMK, Pattali Makkal Katchi, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray), VCK and independent.

Bihar and Uttar Pradesh top the list of MLAs when it comes to hate speech cases with nine each followed by Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana (six each)

Assam and Tamil Nadu (5 each), Delhi, Gujarat and West Bengal (4 each), Jharkhand and Uttarakhand (3 each), Karnataka, Punjab, Rajasthan and Tripura (2 each) and Madhya Pradesh and Odisha (1 each) also have similar cases.

The party-wise list showed that BJP has 20 such MLAs followed by Congress (13), AAP (6), SP and YSR Congress (5 each), DMK and RJD (4 each), Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena (3 each), AIUDF and independents (2 each) and AIMIM, CPI(M), NCP, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, TDP, Tipra Motha Party (1).

According to the report, 80 candidates with declared cases related to Hate Speech have contested elections for assemblies, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in the last five years.