NEW DELHI: Of the 189 MLAs in Karnataka, who have been fielded again by their parties, assets of 168 MLAs have increased while the assets of the 21 MLAs have decreased, according to data that the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) published on Saturday. The report by the ADR is based on the self-sworn affidavits of 189 re-contesting MLAs in the Karnataka Assembly.
As per the report, out of the 189 re-contesting MLAs, assets of 168 MLAs, which is 89 per cent of the candidates have increased ranging from 1 per cent to 1,188 per cent and assets of 21 MLAs, which is 11 per cent, have decreased ranging from -0.36 per cent to -68 per cent.
The report highlighted that the average assets of these 189 re-contesting MLAs fielded by various parties including Independents in 2018 was Rs 29.18 crore, which in 2023 has increased to Rs 48.59 crore, a growth of Rs 19.41 crore in the last five years. The report said that the average percentage growth in assets for these 189 re-contesting MLAs is 67 per cent.
As per the ADR report, assets of Yashvanth Rayagoud V Patil, who is seeking to retain the seat for the third time from Indi assembly seat of Karnataka, have increased by a whopping 1,188 per cent in last five years. In 2018, he had declared assets worth Rs 90.75 lakh, which now stands at Rs 11.68 crore, an increase of Rs 10.77 crore in last five years.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivkumar, who is currently an MLA from Kanakapura assembly constituency, has declared maximum increase in assets with an increase of Rs 573.78 crore.
He had declared assets to the tune of 1413.80 crore in 2023 as compared to Rs 840.01 crore in 2018. His assets in last years increased by 68 per cent.
Similarly, assets of Congress candidate N.A. Haris, who is contesting from Shantinagar constituency, have increased by Rs 248.96 crore in last five years. Haris had declared assets worth Rs 190.24 crore in 2018 and in this year he has shown his assets to the tune of Rs 439.20 crore, which is 131 per cent increase. As per the ADR data, the ruling BJP has repeated 95 MLAs in the 2023 assembly polls and their assets in the last five years have increased by 69.34 per cent. The average assets of the BJP MLAs in the 2018 assembly polls was Rs 20.77 crore, which ballonned to Rs 35.17 crore in 2023.
Meanwhile, the Congress fielded 66 candidates once again in the assembly polls, and their average assets in last five years have increased by Rs 29.56 crore. The average asset of these 66 Congress candidates in 2018 was Rs 43.65 crore, which ballooned to Rs 73.21 crore witnessing a growth of 67.74 per cent in five years.
Similarly, Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) has also repeated 26 candidates in 2023 elections and the average asset of these candidates have increased by 51.66 per cent. The average asset of these candidates in 2018 was Rs 24.18 crore which witnessed a jump of Rs 12 crore and in 2023, their average asset now stands at Rs 36 crore, as per the ADR data.
BSP has also repeated its lone MLA in the Karnataka elections and his asset increased by 103 per cent in last five years. In 2018 assembly poll, the average asset of the BSP candidate was Rs 20.16 crore, which increased to Rs 40.97 crore, witnessing an increase of Rs 20.80 crore.
One of the Independent MLAs, who is re-contesting in 2023, has also witnessed jump in his assets by 27.67 per cent. In 2018, his average asset was Rs 11.59 crore, which witnessed a jump of over Rs 3.2 crore and now his average asset stands at Rs 14.8 crore. The polling for the 224 member assembly is scheduled on May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13. The ruling BJP is campaigning aggressively to retain the power in the state whereas the Congress and the JD-S are also campaigning to come back to the power in the southern state. (IANS)
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