The average financial assets of 153 re-elected Lok Sabha MPs grew by 142%, from ₹5.5 crore in 2009 to ₹13.32 crore in 2014, according to an analysis by National Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms.
E. T. Mohammed Basheer of the IUML declared the highest jump of 2,018% (an almost 22-fold surge), followed by the TMC’s Sisir Kumar Adhikari with 1,700%. The figure for AIADMK parliamentarian P. Venugopal went up by 1,281%.
However, there were also a few parliamentarians whose financial assets registered a sharp decline: the biggest drop of 67% was reported by the CPI (M)’s P. Karunakaran, while the assets of the BJP’s Jagdambika Pal shrank 64%. Arjun Charan Sethi of the BJD declared a decrease of 39%; for BJP’s Om Prakash Yadav it went down by 27%; and by 21% for the Congress’s K.V. Thomas.
“Financial details of 153 sitting re-elected MPs fielded by various political parties have been taken from the recently filed affidavits by these MPs and the values of these financial assets have been compared to the corresponding values of the assets that the MPs showed in their affidavits from the previous elections,” the two organisations said.
In the BJP, the assets of Dr. Ramshankar Katheria grew by 869%; those of Shatrughan Sinha by 778%; the jump was 660% in the case of Danve Raosaheb Dadarao; 608% for Arjun Ram Meghwal; 592% for Hari Manjhi from Gaya; and 588% for D.V. Sadananda Gowda. Varun Gandhi’s assets increased by 625%. The average for the party’s re-elected MPs was an increase of 140%.
The MPs of the Congress on average reported a little more than a doubling (109%) in their assets. Parliamentarian Kodikunnil Suresh’s assets increased by 702%; it was 573% for the former party president Sonia Gandhi; and 304% for her son and current party chief Rahul Gandhi.
