NEW DELHI: The assets of over 25 re-elected Members of Parliament and 257 MLAs have grown by over five times since the last election.This exponential increase in the legislators’ assets has been a cause of worry and last week, the Supreme Court, while taking a strict view of the rise had asked the contesting candidates to declare the source of their income and that of their spouse and dependants too.
According to a petition filed in the apex court, Bansgaon BJP MP Kamlesh Paswan’s assets increased by a staggering 5,649 per cent. His wealth grew from Rs 17,68,000 to Rs 10,16,40,625. He was followed by Muslim League MP from Ponnani in Kerala, E T Mohammed Basheer, whose assets increased from Rs 6,05,855 to Rs 1,32,16,259, registering an increase of over 2,000 per cent.Significantly, 15 of the 26 MPs, whose assets have grown by over five times in the last five years, are from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The two Congressmen featuring in the list are Mavelikara MP Kodikunnil Suresh, whose assets grew by 702 per cent from Rs 16,62,747 to Rs 1,32,51,330 and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, whose assets rose from Rs 1,37,94,768 to Rs 9,28,95,288 — a rise of 573 per cent.“We filed the plea in the Supreme Court because it is important that elections are fought in a free and fair manner and not with money power. We are happy that the court has asked candidates to file their source of income. It will make the election process more transparent,” said S N Shukla, general secretary, Lok Prahari.
Some of the most prominent names in the MPs’ list are Sultanpur MP Varun Gandhi who declared a 625 per cent rise in assets and former Karnataka CM and Union Minister D V Sadananda Gowda with a 588 per cent rise.For MLAs, the highest asset increase was for Congress MLA from Chengannur in Karnataka, Vishnunath with a rise of 44,325 per cent. His wealth grew to Rs 25,02,000 from Rs 5,632 in five years. Close on his heels was BJP MLA from Shergarh in Odisha, Babu Singh whose wealth increased by 39,367 per cent from Rs 5,000 to Rs 3,74,94,007.
In terms of states, Gujarat had the maximum — 10 — re-elected MLAs whose wealth increased by 2,000 per cent in five years. Nagaland and Uttar Pradesh came in second with five re-elected representatives from each state declaring a 2,000 per cent asset rise. UP, with regard to the number of re-elected MLAs declaring rise in assets by over five times, topped the list with 24 MLAs, followed by Maharashtra and Gujarat with 23 and 21 legislators, respectively.
