Maharashtra has elected more crorepati MLAs in the recently concluded Vidhan Sabha elections than it did five years ago.
Crucially, the average assets of the new MLAs more than doubled over the last five years to ₹22.4 crore. In 2014, the average assets of the 288 MLAs of Maharashtra was ₹10.8 crore. These were some of the key findings of an analysis conducted by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) of 285 MLAs who were elected on Thursday.
The ADR study excluded three MLAs — senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar, Independent MLA Kishor Jorgewar from Chandrapur, and Shiv Sena MLA from Paranda, Tanaji Sawant — as their complete affidavits were not on the Election Commission’s website at the time that ADR was preparing the report.
Crorepati MLAs
While the average assets per MLA has increased, the percentage of ‘crorepati’ MLAs has also grown to 93% in 2019, from 88% in 2014, with 180 MLAs having declared assets of more than ₹5 crore.
Parag Shah. Photo courtesy: Twitter/@ParagShahBJP
Six out of 10 MLAs with the highest assets in the State are from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena alliance with Parag Shah topping the list with assets worth over ₹500 crore. Mr. Shah, who won from Ghatkopar (East), was given a ticket instead of two-time sitting MLA and minister for housing Prakash Mehta. He is followed by the BJP’s Mumbai president Mangal Prabhat Lodha. Other top-ranked BJP crorepati MLAs include Rajesh Pawar, Prashant Thakur and Sameer Meghe. The Shiv Sena’s Pratap Sarnaik, who won from Ovala-Majiwada in Thane, is ranked 10th with assets worth ₹143 crore.
Highest and least assets
From the Opposition, Congress leaders Sanjay Jagtap, who trounced three-time Shiv Sena MLA and the outgoing Minister of State for Water Resources Vijay Shivtare, and Vishwajeet Kadam, who won by a mammoth 1.62 lakh votes, feature among the top five MLAs with the most assets. Abu Azmi of the Samajwadi Party is fifth on the list with assets worth more than ₹209 crore.
In stark contrast, the bottom 10 MLAs with the least assets features only one BJP MLA — Ram Vitthal from Malshiras. The NCP’s Aditi Tatkare, who is the daughter of MP and senior NCP leader Sunil Tatkare, and both MLAs of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) also feature among the 10 elected representatives with the least declared assets. The sole Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA, Vinod Nikole, is ranked at the bottom in value of assets, having just ₹51,082 against his name.
Nearly 118 MLAs were re-elected this time according to ADR’s analysis and their average assets have ballooned by 78% over the last five years. The average assets of re-elected MLAs in 2014 was ₹14.55 crore. The figure stood at ₹25.86 crore in 2019.
More criminal MLAs
The number of elected MLAs with criminal cases against them has increased during the last elections with 176 having declared criminal cases against themselves and 113 having declared serious criminal cases in their affidavits. Two elected MLAs have been charged for murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code: Kumar Ailani of the BJP and Sangram Jagtap of the NCP. Mr. Jagtap has been charged in the high-profile double murder case of two Shiv Sena leaders in Ahmednagar in 2018.
