BJP fielded 363 crorepatis in 2019 LS polls

New Delhi, May 16: In all there are 7,928 candidates who contested the Lok Sabha elections 2019 of which 2297 (29 per cent) have assets worth Rs 1 crore or more, as per a report by election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) released.

This year out of the 7928 candidates analysed, 2297 (29 per cent) are crorepatis. Whereas, out of 8205 candidates analysed during Lok Sabha 2014 elections, 2217 (27 per cent) candidates were crorepatis. And out of 7810 candidates during Lok Sabha 2009 elections, 1249 (16 per cent) candidates were crorepatis.

These figures have increased for the second consecutive general election, which is to say that there has been an increase from 2009 to 2014, and subsequently, from 2014 to 2019. the share of crorepati candidates increased by 13 percentage points, from 16 per cent to 29 per cent.

The average of assets per candidate contesting in the Lok Sabha Elections 2019 is Rs 4.14 Crore. Party wise average assets: Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 433 BJP candidates is Rs 13.37 Crores, 419 INC candidates have average assets of Rs 19.92 Crores, 381 BSP candidates have average assets worth Rs 3.86 Crores, 69 CPI(M) candidates have average assets worth Rs 1.28 Crore, and 3370 Independent candidates have average assets of Rs. 1.25 crores.

Interestingly, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which carries the 'common man' tag is also full of crorepatis of 60 per cent.

The top ten crorepatis:

Reportedly, BJP fielded 42 per cent crorepati candidates in 2009, which rose to 72 per cent in 2014 and further to 83 per cent in 2019. The independent candidate from Bihar's Pataliputra constituency, Ramesh Kumar Sharma, is the wealthiest candidate contesting this election with assets worth Rs 1108 crore. He is followed by KV Reddy (INC) from Telangana (Rs 895 crore), Nakul Nath (INC) from Madhya Pradesh(Rs 660 crore), Vasanthakumar H from Tamil Nadu (Rs 417 crore) and Jyotiraditya Scindia from Madhya Pradesh (Rs 374 crore).

States that have the maximum crorepatis:

Arunachal Pradesh has the highest percentage of crorepati candidates. Of the twelve candidates contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the state, 10 are crorepatis. The state is followed by Meghalaya, Mizoram, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep and Nagaland.

The other major states like - Jammu and Kashmir (48 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (45 per cent), Uttarakhand (42 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (42 per cent), Haryana (39 per cent) and Uttar Pradesh (38 per cent) are at the top.

Kerala (21 per cent), Tripura (21 per cent), Tamil Nadu (23 per cent) and Chhattisgarh (23 per cent) had low per centage of crorepati candidates. Though, TDP was in the top five list of richest parties, Telangana, the state where it is majorly contesting, has the lowest per centage of crorepatis.