The assets of MLAs who are re-contesting Bihar’s Assembly elections nearly tripled over their five-year tenures, an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms has shown.
One hundred and sixty MLAs from Bihar’s outgoing 243-strong Assembly are up for re-election this time. While the average assets of these 160 MLAs, as declared by them in their election affidavits, were Rs. 86.41 lakh in 2010, their average assets are now Rs. 2.57 crore.
Among the four major parties contesting this election, the assets of re-contesting Congress and JD(U) MLAs grew at the fastest rate, while Rashtriya Janata Dal MLAs contesting again, had the highest average assets (Rs. 3.8 crore in 2015).
The biggest increase is in the assets of JD(U) sitting MLA Poonam Devi Yadav, who is recontesting from Khagaria constituency. Between 2010 and 2015, her assets rose from Rs. 1.8 crore to Rs. 41 crore, an increase of over 2000 per cent.
In all, a quarter of all candidates in the 2015 elections have assets of over Rs. 1 crore, ADR found.
In the fifth and final phase of polls, the BJP has the richest candidates with average assets of Rs. 2.29 crore, while the average assets of CPI candidates are the lowest at Rs. 55 lakh.
