Himachal Assembly worked for only 30 days, passed 80% bills within 3 days

158 out of 338 candidates are crorepatis; 59 out of 68 are from Congress, 47 out of 68 from BJP

The Himachal Pradesh Assembly sat for less than 30 days a year and 80 per cent bills were passed within 3 days, a report revealed on Tuesday, when the campaigning for the coming elections ended. 

A total of 349 candidates are in the fray for the polls. Congress and BJP have fielded candidates in all 68 seats, while the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and other Left parties are contesting 16 seats. There are 36 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) from the Congress, 29 MLAs from BJP and five independents in the current assembly.

Here are some key findings by PRS Legislative Research:

A study by PRS Legislative Research shows the trends in the participation of the MLAs. Here are the key findings:
 

• Eighty per cent of the bills were passed within three days as the assembly sat for 29 days in one year, a dip from the previous assembly (2008-2012) that sat for 33 days in a year.

 

• Out of the 80 per cent bills passed, 56 per cent were approved on the same day or next day of the bill’s introduction. Only the Himachal Pradesh Aerial Ropeways (Amendment) Bill, 2015, was passed after 91 days of its introduction.

• Around 50 per cent of the bills were related to finance and education. These include bills to establish new universities (28%), bills related to goods and services tax (12%) and bills to sanction budgets (10%).

• 84% of the MLAs are graduates; average age of MLAs is 58 years

• 15% MLAs asked 45% of the questions; ruling party MLAs asked fewer questions

• 21% of the MLAs participated in 50% of the debates

Some other facts about the Himachal Pradesh polls are:

• There is a direct contest in the Jhanduta (SC) constituency in Bilaspur while Nurpur, Sundernagar, Chintpurni, Doon, Pachhad (SC), Banjar, Ani (SC), Nachan (SC), Renukaji (SC), Jubbal and Kotkhai are set to witness a triangular fight, with the BJP and the Congress as the major players.

• The highest number of candidates — 12 — are in the fray in Dharamsala, followed by 10 in Karsog (SC), nine each in Jaswan Pragpur and Sarkaghat and eight each in Fatehpur and Palampur. 

• Four-way contests are on the cards in 22 constituencies, while five-cornered contests would be witnessed in 14 constituencies. On nine seats, the fight will be among six players; in six other constituencies, seven candidates each are in the fray.

• Of the 338 candidates analysed, 158 (47 per cent) are crorepatis. The average assets per candidate is Rs 4.07 crore.

• Analysis of crorepati candidates party-wise: 59 out of 68 from the Congress, 47 out of 68 from the BJP, 6 out of of 42 from the Bahujan Samaj Party, 3 out of 14 from the CPI-M, 1 out of 3 from the Communist Party of India and 36 out of 112 independents have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.

• The candidates with the highest assets are Balvir Singh Verma of the BJP (over Rs 90 crore) followed by Vikramaditya Singh of the Congress with more than Rs 84 crore.

A total of over 50,02,000 voters consisting of over 25,68,000 male and 24,57,000 women voters will cast their votes on November 9 and the counting will take place on December 18. The elections will be held at 7,525 polling stations across the state.