Re-elected MLAs from ruling party added more wealth than others

Analysis also shows average wealth of re-elected candidates was higher than that of elected candidates

Data emerging from the recently concluded Assembly elections in five states shows that it pays to be in power.

A Business Standard analysis of data from the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) on the wealth of candidates shows that the re-elected MLAs from the ruling party added more wealth in the last five years than re-elected candidates from other political parties.

For instance, in Uttar Pradesh, the average wealth of re-elected candidates from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) increased 61.89 per cent. In contrast, re-elected members from Samajwadi Party (SP) increased their wealth by 53.17 per cent.

In Goa, there was a 72 per cent increase in the wealth of re-elected BJP MLAs, compared to 65.8 per cent for Indian National Congress MLAs (see chart 1).

However, in Punjab and Manipur, re-elected MLAs from the erstwhile ruling dispensations could not make as much as the opposition. However, the trend of contesting candidates and winning candidates is clear from ADR data.

The average asset of a candidate contesting UP elections was Rs 2.87 crore, but the average asset of the winning candidate was Rs 8.07 crore. The re-elected candidates were even wealthier, with an average wealth of Rs 8.29 crore. Re-elected candidates from the BJP had an average wealth of Rs 8.27 crore (see chart 2).

In Uttarakhand, the average wealth of the winning candidate was 2.6 times more than the average wealth of contestants. The average wealth of re-elected MLAs was 5.6 per cent more than the average wealth of all winning candidates, and BJP’s re-elected MLAs were the richest among all re-elected MLAs and had 9 per cent more assets than winning MLAs (see chart 3).

In Goa, the winning candidate had three times more wealth than contesting candidates, and re-elected MLAs were richer by more than 10 per cent.

Punjab had the highest wealth gap between winning candidates and re-elected MLAs, with the average wealth of re-elected MLAs being 66 per cent more than the average wealth of a winning MLA. A re-elected MLA had an average asset value of Rs 17.42 crore, whereas the wealth of a winning candidate was Rs 10.45 crore.

Manipur was the only state where the wealth of a re-elected MLA was lower than that of a winning candidate. A winning candidate had an average asset value of Rs 3.75 crore, whereas the wealth of a re-elected candidate was Rs 3.31 crore.