NEW DELHI: The MCD elections this year will see more crorepati candidates in the fray than the last time. As many as 556 candidates contesting the civic body polls on different party tickets are crorepatis, as per their declarations. According to an analysis of the affidavits of the 1,336 candidates fighting the elections, conducted by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Delhi Election Watch, 42% of the contestants are crorepatis.
In 2017, out of 2,315 candidates, 697 (30%) had declared wealth of Rs 1 crore or above. This year, 151 candidates have declared their wealth valued at over Rs 5 crore and above, while 217 of them have said it is between Rs 2-5 crore, as per the report. A total of 365 candidates declared their assets worth between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 2 crore.
“There are 320 candidates in fray, who have declared their assets valued at Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh and 283 candidates who own assets valued at less than Rs 10 lakh,” the report states. As far as the party-wise crorepati candidates are considered, out of 249 BJP candidates, 162 (65%) have declared their asset valued at over Rs 1 crore, as compared to 148 (60%) out of 248 AAP candidates, and 107 (44%) out of 245 Congress candidates falling in the same bracket. The report further says that the average asset per candidate who are contesting in the MCD election for 2022 is Rs 2.27 crore while in 2017, it was Rs 1.61 crore.
The BJP leads when the average assets per candidate are taken into account. The average assets per candidate for 249 BJP candidates comes to Rs 4.04 crore while it is Rs 3.74 crore for 248 AAP candidates and Rs 1.98 crore for 245 Congress candidates, the report said. The three wealthiest candidates include two from the BJP Ram Dev Sharma (Ballimaran) with Rs 66.9 crore in his affidavit, followed by Nandini Sharma (Malviya Nagar) with `49.8 crore. Jitender Bansala (Karawal Nagar West) of AAP, with Rs 48.2 crore, is third on the list.
Two candidates Reeta (South West-Kakrola) and Reena Devi (130 Dwarika) have declared zero assets. A glance at the educational qualifications of the candidates shows that 752 candidates have studied between Class 5 and12, while 487 hold graduate or higher qualifications. Also, 22 candidates have declared themselves as literate and 60 are unschooled. The data shows that 510 candidates are aged between 21 and 40 years while 741 are between 41-60 years.
752 candidates educated between Class 5 and 12
A glance at the educational qualifications of the candidates shows that 752 candidates have studied between Class 5and 12, while 487 hold graduate or higher qualifications. Also, 22 candidates have declared themselves as literate and 60 are unschooled.
