Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2023: Who Are The Richest And Poorest Candidates In The Fray?

A majority of the sitting MLAs in the current Rajasthan Assembly, comprising 79 percent of the total, are classified as crorepati legislators, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Rajasthan Election Watch.

The report, which analyzed the criminal, financial, and other background details of 199 out of the 200 sitting MLAs, reveals that a total of 88 (81 percent) out of 108 MLAs from the Congress, 54 (78 percent) out of 69 MLAs from the BJP, 12 out of 14 Independent MLAs, and 2 out of 3 Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) MLAs have declared assets worth over Rs 1 crore. Notably, the analysis was based on the affidavits submitted by the candidates before the 2018 Assembly elections and subsequent by-elections.

The wealthiest among these MLAs who have declared their total assets in their Income Tax returns include Congress leaders Parasram Mordia (Rs 172 crore), Anjana Udailal (Rs 107 crore), and Vishvendra Singh (Rs 104 crore). Incumbent Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot have declared assets worth Rs six crore each. Former Chief Minister and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje and BJP state president CP Joshi have declared assets worth Rs four crore.

The average assets per sitting MLA in the Rajasthan Assembly is Rs.7.49 crore. Breaking it down by party, the average assets per MLA for 108 Congress MLAs is Rs 9.28 crores, 69 BJP MLAs have an average of Rs 5.45 crores, 1 RLD MLA has an average of Rs 2.55 crores, 2 Bhartiya Tribal Party MLAs have an average of Rs 7.66 lakhs, 2 CPI (M) MLAs have an average of Rs.24.24 lakhs, three RLP MLAs have an average of Rs 1.19 crores, and 14 Independent MLAs have an average of Rs 7.54 crores, as per the report.

The analysis also reveals the educational qualifications of the legislators, with 59 MLAs (30 percent) having declared educational qualifications ranging from 5th pass to 12th pass, while 128 (64 percent) MLAs have declared a graduate or higher educational qualification. Seven MLAs have declared themselves as literate.

Among the 199 MLAs analysed, 27 (14 percent) are women.

Regarding criminal backgrounds, the report discloses that 46 (23 percent) of the analyzed sitting MLAs have declared criminal cases against themselves, with 28 (14 percent) of them facing serious criminal cases. One sitting MLA has declared cases related to murder (IPC section 302), while four sitting MLAs have declared cases related to attempted murder (IPC section 307).

Breaking it down by party, 27 (25 percent) of the Congress MLAs have declared criminal cases against themselves, while 11 (16 percent) of the BJP MLAs have done so. All 2 MLAs from the CPI(M) and 6 (43 percent) of the 14 Independent MLAs have also declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits, according to the report.