A whopping 93% of Member of Parliament in the 18th Lok Sabha are millionaires, up from 88 per cent in 2019, revealed a report by poll rights body Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR). These newly elected MPs have been entrusted with the task of wiping away poverty, hunger, unemployment, etc from the country. These newly elected MPs from high economic strata of society have been entrusted with the task to bridle hunger and poverty in the country in next five years.
In 17th Lok Sabha, 475 (88%) MPs were millionaires while the 16th Lok Sabha had 443 (82%) as millionaires.
Records revealed, since the 15th Lok Sabha, a continuous rise in the number of millionaires in the lower house, with 315 (58 per cent) millionaires MPs has been witnessed. In the current 18th Lok Sabha, of the total 543 MPs, 504 have been found to be millionaires by ADR.
Interestingly, only 1% of MPs in the 18th Lok Sabha have assets worth less than Rs 20 lakh.
Top three wealthiest MPs
The top three wealthiest candidates in the current 18th Lok Sabha include TDP’s Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani from Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur constituency having declared assets worth Rs 5,705 crore on top spot followed by Bharatiya Janata Party’s Konda Vishweshwar Reddy from Telangana’s Chevella having total declared assets amounting to Rs 4,568 crore onsecond spot. The third most rich MPis also from ruling BJP. MP from Haryana’s Kurukshetra Naveen Jindal has declared his assets worth Rs 1,241 crore.
95% MPs of BJP are crorepatis
As per the analysis, 227 (95 per cent) of the BJP’s 240 winning candidates, 92 (93 per cent) of the Congress’ 99, 21 (95 per cent) of the DMK’s 22, 27 (93 per cent) of the TMC’s 29 and 34 (92 per cent) of the Samajwadi Party’s 37 candidates have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore, revealed the analytical report.
Further all the three MPs of Aam Admi Party (AAP) besides the 12 MPs of JDU and 16 MPs of TDP are also millionaires.
The analysis also delves into candidates’ chances of winning based on their financial backgrounds.
19.6% probability of a millionaire clinch victory, 0.7% for non-millionaire
The ADR analysis found that the probability of a millionaire candidate winning the Lok Sabha polls in 2024 stood at 19.6 per cent as against a mere 0.7 per cent for candidates who were non-millionaires.
The analysis also provides a breakdown of wealth distribution among the winning candidates.
The report further revealed that a considerable 42 per cent of the candidates in fray for the 18th Lok Sabha possessed assets totalling to Rs 10 crore and above while assets of 19 per cent of the total candidates fell within the bracket of Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore besides 32 per cent had declared their assets value from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore.
Average assets per winning candidate of political parties
Party-wise, the Telugu DesamParty (TDP) leads with an average of Rs 442.26 crore per winner, followed by BJP with Rs 50.04 crore per winner, the DMK with Rs 31.22 crore per winner, the Congress with Rs 22.93 crore per winner, TMC with Rs 17.98 crore per winner while the SP’s average asset per winner stood at Rs 15.24 crore.
MPs with low financial profile
The analysis also highlights significant contrast amidst financial profiles of MPs as on one hand some boast of significant assets while on the other hand some have comparatively low asset profile.
BJP’s Jyotirmay Singh Mahato from West Bengal’s Purulia has declared assets around Rs 5 lakh while TMC’s Mitali Bag from West Bengal’s Arambag has declared assets worth Rs 7 lakh. Samajwadi Party’s Machhlishahr MP from Uttar Pradesh Priya Saroj has declared her financial belongings to be around Rs 11 lakh only.
