NEW DELHI, April 21 (Xinhua) -- India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Monday pledged to rid the Parliament of criminals if voted to power.
"I have decided that after May 16, once the election result is declared and the new government is formed, I will examine the affidavits of all winning MPs to find out about their criminal records. I won't leave even the BJP and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidates. I will then tell the Supreme Court to punish all the criminals," Modi said at an election rally in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
The 63-year-old three-time Chief Minister of the western state of Gujarat added: "This way, I will clean Parliament and make the country free of criminals. No person with a criminal record will be able to rule the country then."
A recent study has revealed that 50 Members of Parliament ( Lower House), elected in 2009 general elections, have a total of 136 criminal cases pending against them for 10 years or more.
The Supreme Court had last year, in a landmark ruling, said that any lawmaker will stand disqualified the moment they "are convicted of any criminal case" even by a trial court.
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