More than 50 percent of the candidates in the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections to be held on Saturday are crorepatis. The Congress, pinning its hopes on the anti-incumbency wave, has nearly 90 per cent crorepati candidates, while the ruling BJP, which has 82 per cent crorepati candidates, is gearing up for a comeback. That means 61 candidates of Congress and 56 of BJP are crorepatis.
According to a report by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), 55 per cent (226) of the 412 contesting candidates are in the crorepati list. Not only this, some of these crorepati candidates also have criminal charges against them. Despite the Congress having a higher number of candidates in the list of rich, the BJP candidate is at the top of the list of crorepatis.
The ADR report states that the Aam Aadmi Party has 52 per cent candidates in this category. The party has fielded candidates in 67 out of the total 68 assembly constituencies and has 35 crorepati candidates.
Also in the rich list are 36 percent (four) CPI(M) candidates along with 25 percent (13) BSP candidates. BSP is contesting on 53 seats. Not only this, 45 independent candidates are also crorepatis.
BJP candidate tops the list of rich, 66 ‘criminal crorepatis’
Balveer Singh Verma, BJP candidate from Shimla’s Choupal assembly constituency, tops the list of crorepati candidates with a net worth of Rs 128 crore.
Vikramaditya Singh, son of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who is contesting from Shimla Rural seat, is second with a net worth of Rs 101 crore. Nagrota candidate RS Bali, son of late Congress leader GS Bali, is at number three with a net worth of Rs 96.36 crore.
Of the 200 crorepati candidates, 66 are facing criminal charges. CPI(M)’s Rakesh Singha from Theog seat is facing the maximum number of 30 criminal cases, while his fellow party leader Kuldeep Singh Tanwar from Kasumapati seat in Shimla district is also facing 20 cases. Virbhadra’s son Vikramaditya is facing 11 criminal cases.
Increase in assets of MLAs contesting for re-election
Another ADR report highlighted that the assets of 84 per cent re-contesting MLAs increased from 5 per cent to 1,167 per cent. Therefore, out of 58 MLAs contesting for re-election, 49 have registered an increase in their assets. The report also showed that the assets of nine MLAs (16 per cent) decreased from (-) 4 per cent to (-) 37 per cent.
The average assets of these 58 MLAs contesting re-election by various parties, including independents, in 2017 was Rs 9.30 crore, which has increased to Rs 12.08 crore in 2022. The average asset growth of these MLAs between 2017 and 2022, therefore, is Rs. 2.77 crore while in percentage terms the increase is 30 per cent.
This time, Verma, who topped the list of the rich, announced the highest increase in wealth since 2017 by Rs 37.71 crore. The assets of BJP’s Anil Sharma increased from Rs 40.24 crore in 2017 to Rs 17.23 crore in 2022 to Rs 57.48 crore. Vikramaditya’s assets have also increased by Rs 17.06 crore from Rs 84.32 crore in 2017 to Rs 101.39 crore in 2022.
Analyzing the party-wise growth, the average assets of 35 BJP candidates who contested for re-election increased by Rs 3.20 crore (44 per cent) to Rs 10.46 crore in 2022 from Rs 7.25 crore in 2017. For 20 Congress candidates, there was an increase in average assets. Rs 15.31 crore in 2022 from Rs 2.3 crore (17.72%) as against Rs 13.01 crore in 2017.
Over 55 lakh voters in the hill state will decide the fate of 412 candidates, including Chief Minister Jairam Thakur, Vikramaditya Singh and former BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti, in 68 constituencies on Saturday.
Record cash, liquor, free items seized in Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat: Election Commission
Describing it as a “record”, Election About 11 lakh liters of liquor, free gifts worth Rs 65 crore and cash of Rs 17.84 crore have been seized from Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, the commission said. The Election Commission said there has been a five-fold increase in seizures in the hill state as compared to the 2017 assembly elections.
Himachal Pradesh will go to polls on Saturday, while Gujarat will go to polls in two phases on December 1 and 5. Counting of votes will take place on December 8.
The EC said the seizures are significant in Himachal Pradesh, which stands at Rs 50.28 crore as compared to Rs 9.03 crore five years ago, an increase of more than five times. Giving details, it said that Rs 17.18 crore cash, liquor worth Rs 17.5 crore, medicines worth Rs 1.2 crore and free gifts worth Rs 41 lakh were seized in Himachal Pradesh till November 10.
The poll panel reported that significant seizures worth Rs 9.35 crore were also made during the recent by-elections in seven assembly constituencies of Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, Telangana, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. It was also noted that record seizures were made in the “highly expenditure sensitive” Munugode assembly constituency in Telangana, where thousands of liters of liquor and precious metals worth Rs 1.78 crore along with Rs 6.6 crore in cash were seized.
(with PTI inputs)
read all Latest Politics News Here