Representative image of a person casting a vote.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: There has been an average increase of 43 per cent over the last five years in the assets of 324 MPs who have entered the poll fray again in this Lok Sabha elections, according to an analysis by a poll rights body.
The average assets of these MPs in 2019 was around Rs 21.55 crore while in the current electoral cycle, the average asset value has increased 'significantly' to Rs 30.88 crore, marking an increase of Rs 9.33 crore over the past five years, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said in a report.
It analysed the financial growth among Members of Parliament (MPs) recontesting in the 2024 general elections. The counting of votes for the seven-phase polls will be taken up on June 4.
The percentage growth in assets for these 324 MPs between the 2019 and 2024 polls averages at 43 per cent, the ADR said.
The report said a comparative analysis of party-wise average assets between 2019 and 2024 further elucidates this trend.
It said among the major parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party saw a 39.18 per cent increase in the average assets of its re-contesting 183 MPs (Rs 18.40 crore to Rs 25.61 crore). It was 48.76 per cent for 36 Congress MPs (Rs 44.13 crore to Rs 65.64 crore).
For re-contesting 10 MPs of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam it was 19.96 per cent (Rs 30.93 crore to Rs 37.10 crore), 48.13 per cent for eight Shiv Sena MPs (Rs 19.77 crore to Rs 29.28 crore), 20.53 per cent for five Samajwadi Party MPs (Rs 20.56 crore to Rs 24.78 crore) and 84.13 per cent for eight Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party MPs (Rs 28.66 crore to Rs 52.78 crore).
The report said the average increase in assets of 16 re-contesting MPs of the Trinamool Congress was 53.84 per cent (Rs 15.69 crore to Rs 24.15 crore), 35.54 per cent for 11 Janata Dal (United) MPs (Rs 4.55 crore to Rs 6.17 crore), 14.34 per cent for one Nationalist Congress Party MP (Rs 12 crore to Rs 14 crore), 52.94 per cent for three Bharat Rashtra Samithi MPs (Rs 38 crore to Rs 59 crore), 21.05 per cent for three NCP (Sharad Chandra Pawar) MPs (Rs 48 cr to Rs 58 crore), 52.94 per cent for three Bharat Rashtra Samithi MPs (Rs 38 crore to Rs 59 crore) and 317 per cent for one Janata Dal (Secular) MP (Rs 9 crore to Rs 40 crore).
The increase for recontesting MPs of the Bahujan Samaj Party was 25.37 per cent (Rs 8.46 crore to Rs 10.61 crore), 68.4 per cent for the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) (Rs 7.01 crore to Rs 11.80 crore), 184.02 per cent for the Biju Janata Dal (Rs 2.41 crore to Rs 6.85 crore), 143.2 percent for the Telugu Desam Party (Rs 18.90 crore to Rs 45.97 crore), 104.9 per cent for the Indian Union Muslim League (Rs 13.07 crore to Rs 26.78 crore) and 3000.51 per cent for the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (Rs. 4,78 lakh to Rs 1.48 crore), the report said.
It said the increase was 35.12 per cent for recontesting MPs of the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (Rs 10.43 crore to Rs 14.09 crore), 97.61 per cent for the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (Rs. 85.40 lakh to Rs 1.68 crore).
It was 117.36 per cent for the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, the report said and added that the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) saw a slight decrease of three per cent in assets of recontesting MPs.
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