Surge in Millionaire MPs | Fusion - WeRIndia

A staggering 93% of the candidates who won the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are millionaires, a notable increase from 88% in 2019.

This data comes from an analysis by the Association of Democratic Reforms.

The top three wealthiest candidates include TDP’s Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani from Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur constituency, with assets worth ₹5,705 crore.

Following him are BJP’s Konda Vishweshwar Reddy from Telangana’s Chevella, with assets of ₹4,568 crore, and BJP’s Naveen Jindal from Haryana’s Kurukshetra, holding assets worth ₹1,241 crore.

Out of 543 winning candidates, 504 are millionaires. This trend shows a steady increase since 2009 when only 315 MPs were millionaires. In 2014, 82% of the winning candidates were millionaires, rising to 88% in 2019.

The analysis reveals that 95% of the BJP’s 240 winning candidates are millionaires. Similarly, 93% of the Congress’ 99 winners have declared assets exceeding ₹1 crore.

This is seen in all parties. That is more than 90 per cent of winners from different political parties are crorepatis. The financial background significantly impacts a candidate’s chances of winning.

The analysis shows that millionaire candidates had a 19.6% chance of victory in the 2024 elections, compared to just 0.7% for those with assets below ₹1 crore.

Wealth distribution among the winning candidates is also varied. About 42% have assets totalling ₹10 crore or more, 19% hold assets between ₹5 to 10 crore, and 32% possess assets ranging from ₹1 to 5 crore. Only around 1% have assets worth less than ₹20 lakh.

Average assets per winning candidate differ among major parties. Despite these high averages, some candidates have declared relatively low assets.

BJP’s Jyotirmay Singh Mahato from West Bengal’s Purulia has assets worth just ₹5 lakh. Similarly, TMC’s Mitali Bag from West Bengal’s Arambag and SP’s Priya Saroj from Uttar Pradesh’s Machhlishahr hold assets worth ₹7 lakh and ₹11 lakh, respectively.

The analysis also identifies candidates with significant liabilities. TDP’s Pemmasani has liabilities exceeding ₹1,038 crores.

Similarly, DMK’s S Jagathratchakan has ₹649 crore in liabilities and TDP’s Prabhakar Reddy Vemireddy from Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore owes ₹197 crore.

This financial snapshot of the 2024 Lok Sabha winners highlights the increasing wealth concentration among India’s elected representatives and the significant influence of financial resources on electoral success.

Image by Aniket Sadekar from Pixahive (Free for commercial use / CC0 Public Domain)

Image Published on December 13, 2020

Image Reference: https://pixahive.com/photo/indian-currency-4/