Money makers: 52% of Haryana Assembly poll candidates are crorepatis
These are part of the findings of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a Delhi-based non-governmental organisation that works on electoral reforms
 "Money makers: 52% of Haryana Assembly poll candidates are crorepatis")
More than half (52 per cent) of those contesting the 2024 Haryana Assembly polls are crorepatis, up from 42 per cent in the previous election in 2019. This year's elections will also see 67 sitting MLAs contesting again. And out of the 1,028 candidates analysed, 133, or 13 per cent, have declared criminal cases against themselves, compared to 10 per cent in 2019.
These are part of the findings of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a Delhi-based non-governmental organisation that works on electoral reforms.
ADR's analysis shows that out of the 1,028 candidates (of the total 1,031) in the fray for the Haryana Assembly polls, 538 (52 per cent) are crorepatis. In 2019, the tally of crorepati candidates stood at 481 out of a total 1,138 candidates.
“The role of money power in our elections is evident from the fact that all major political parties give tickets to wealthy candidates,” the ADR noted in its analysis released on Monday.
The average assets per candidate contesting in the 2024 Haryana Assembly polls stood at Rs 8.68 crore, compared to Rs 4.31 crore in 2019. The three candidates with highest assets are BJP’s Narnaund candidate Captain Abhimanyu (Rs 491 crore), INC’s Sohna candidate Rohtas Singh (Rs 484 crore), and industrialist Savitri Jindal, who is contesting as an Independent from Hisar (Rs 270 crore).