Story in numbers: Money and muscle power in elections

Punjab Police last week seized 160 kg of unrefined gold, worth Rs 21 crore, in Mohali

It goes without saying that money and muscle power influence elections in India. 

The Punjab Police last week seized 160 kg of unrefined gold, worth Rs 21 crore, from a car in Mohali. Sources said the car was owned by a company based in Himachal Pradesh. The gold was sourced from Delhi, to be sent to Hamirpur, Uttar Pradesh.

This is hardly surprising. In 2012, the average assets of MLAs in Punjab was among the highest in the country. How much these assets have grown will be known after the election, but are likely to validate the trend that to secure a victory, candidates invest so much that they spend the next five years recouping what they have invested.

The same applies to muscle power. Although the Election Commission has countermanded elections in Bihar and Tamil Nadu, where it has observed muscle or money power has been used, criminal cases, especially of a serious nature, have been registered against nearly 20 per cent of the MLAs in the Punjab Assembly in 2012. It remains to be seen if muscle power represented in the Assembly will go up or come down.

Data: Association for Democratic Reforms