New Delhi, Feb 1 (IANS) The Delhi Assembly elections this year has seen a rise in the number of the millionaire candidates, a report by the election watch body, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said on Saturday.
Out of the 672 candidates, who are contesting the Assembly polls in Delhi, 243 (36 per cent) are millionaires, which is an increase from 230 (34 per cent) in the 2015 elections.
The report said the average assets per candidate is Rs 4.34 crores. “In 2015 Assembly Elections, the average assets per candidate for 673 candidates was Rs 3.32 crores.”
A total of 51 candidates out of 70 from the AAP, 55 out of 66 candidates from the Congress, 47 out of 67 candidates from the BJP and 13 out of 66 candidates from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are millionaires, as per the ADR report.
“Three out of five candidates from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have declared assets worth more than Rs one crore,” the report said.
Among major parties, the report said the average assets per candidate for 70 AAP candidates is Rs 15.25 crores and that of the 66 Congress candidates is Rs 11.68 crores.
“The 67 BJP candidates have average assets of Rs 10.22 crores, while the 66 BSP candidates have average assets worth Rs 62.67 lakh,” it said.
The five NCP candidates have average assets worth Rs 2.14 crores and 148 independent candidates have average assets worth Rs 80.90 lakh, the ADR said.
The top four candidates with highest declared assets are from the AAP — Dharampal Lakra (Mundka) having total assets over Rs 292 crore; and Pramila Tokas from the R. K. Puram seat and Ram Singh Netaji from the Badarpur constituency with assets of over Rs 80 crore each; and Raj Kumar Anand (Patel Nagar) with assets of over Rs 78 crore.
AAP’s Kartar Singh Tanwar from Chhatarpur has the highest total income shown in the Income Tax returns (including that of spouse and dependents).
The ADR said only 659 candidates have filled their PAN details, while 13 have not filled it.
The polling for the 70-member Delhi Assembly is on February 8.
–IANS
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