This time, five Congress MLAs, four AAP MLAs, and one Independent MLA are among the top five wealthiest MLAs. The next Punjab Assembly would feature 75% crorepati MLAs, with 1/3rd of them having assets above Rs 5 crore.
This was disclosed in a study by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Punjab Election Watch on newly elected MLAs (PEW).
Furthermore, compared to the strength of such MLAs in the previous House of 2017, there has been a more than three-fold rise in the number of elected MLAs with criminal histories.
According to the article, six MLAs are facing significant criminal charges, including one charged with murder, two with attempted murder charges, and three with cases involving crimes against women.
While releasing this report in Jalandhar on Monday, Jaskirat Singh of ADR and Parwinder Singh Kitna of PEW said that 33.33 percent of MLAs have assets of more than Rs 5 crore, 23.08 percent have assets between Rs 2 crore and Rs 5 crore, 27.35 percent have assets between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 2 crore, 11.97 percent have assets between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 50 lakh, and 4.27 percent have assets less than Rs 10 lakh.
According to both, 63 (69 percent) of AAP MLAs are crorepatis, 17 (94 percent) of 18 Congress MLAs are crorepatis, 3 (100 percent) of SAD MLAs are crorepatis, and there are also 2 (100 percent) BJP MLAs, 1 (100 percent) BSP MLA, and 1 (100 percent) Independent MLA.
In addition, the average amount of money won by winning candidates in this year’s Punjab Assembly elections is Rs 10.45 crore. In the 2017 Punjab Assembly election, the average asset per MLA was Rs 11.78 crore.
In terms of party breakdown, the average assets per winning candidate for 92 AAP candidates is Rs 7.52 crore, up from Rs 6.25 crore in 2017, while the average assets per winning candidate for 18 Congress candidates is Rs 22.73 crore, up from Rs 14. 88 crore in 2017.
In addition, three SAD winning candidates have an average asset value of Rs 15.03 crore, up from Rs 9.80 crores in 2017, while two BJP winning candidates have an average asset value of Rs 2.49 crores. The lone Independent MLA has Rs 69.75 crore in assets. In 2017, there were 81 percent crorepati MLAs in the House.
This time, five Congress MLAs, four AAP MLAs, and one Independent MLA are among the top five wealthiest MLAs. Kulwant Singh, a Mohali MLA, is the wealthiest, with Rs 238 crore in assets, followed by Rana Gurjit Singh, a Congress MLA from Kapurthala, with Rs 125 crore, and AAP’s Sunam MLA Aman Arora, who has Rs 95 crore in assets.
The AAP has all ten MLAs with the lowest assets, with Narinderpal Singh Sawan (30) of Fazilka and Narinder Kaur Bharaj (27) of Sangur having just Rs 18,370 and Rs 24,409, respectively.
With Rs 3.65 lakh in assets, Labh Singh Ugoke is ranked third. In the Badhaur constituency, Ugoke beat Congress CM contender and previous CM Charanjit Singh Channi.
In 2022, 25 MLAs were re-elected, with an average net worth of Rs 17.41 crore. The average asset increase of re-elected MLAs is Rs 34.84 lakh, up 2% from the average asset growth of re-elected MLAs in 2017, which was Rs 17.07 crore.
Between 2017 and 2022, just five re-elected MLAs had a fall in income ranging from 8% to 41%, while 20 MLAs saw a gain in income ranging from 2% to 2,954 percent. Prof. Baljinder Kaur’s income increased the most, from Rs 3.65 lakh in 2017 to Rs 1.11 crore in 2018, with MLA pay being the primary source of income. Gurmeet Singh Hayer, the AAP MLA from Barnala, had the smallest rise, with assets of Rs 43 lakh in 2017 and Rs 44 lakh in 2018.
In terms of criminal cases, there were only 16 (14%) MLAs with criminal charges in the 2017 Vidhan Sabha, but this time there are 58 MLAs – over half of the winning candidates are involved in criminal cases, which is more than three times the previous House.
According to the report, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had 52 (57 percent) MLAs out of 92 elected, the Congress had 3 (17 percent) out of 18 winning candidates, the SAD had 2 (67 percent) out of 3 winning candidates, and the BJP had 1 (50 percent) out of 2 winning candidates with criminal charges.
AAP has 23 (25 percent) of the 92 winning candidates with major criminal records, Congress has 2 (11 percent) of the 18 winning candidates, and SAD has 2 (67 percent) of the 3 winning candidates.
Meanwhile, women currently account for 11.1 percent of the Assembly’s members.
