India’s opposition Congress pips Modi’s party with most ‘billionaire’ lawmakers

All top three wealthy MLAs are from Karnataka and two of them are Congress functionaries.

• Chandrashekar Bhat
• 25 July, 2023

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By: Chandrashekar Bhat

INDIA’S principal opposition has outscored prime minister Narendra Modi’s party in terms of the number of wealthy provincial lawmakers, according to a democracy campaign group.

A total of 33 members of state legislative assemblies (MLAs) belonging to the Congress are “billionaires” in rupee terms, compared with 24 of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which holds power at the centre.

Congress’s DK Shivakumar, who is the deputy chief minister of Karnataka is the richest MLA with a declared wealth of Rs 14.13 billion (£130 million), an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) revealed.

All top three wealthy MLAs are from Karnataka, which houses the country’s IT hub of Bengaluru, and two of them are Congress functionaries.

The southern state’s average assets per MLA of Rs 643.9m (£6.11m) is also the highest in the country. It is followed by neighbouring Andhra Pradesh with average assets per MLA of Rs 282.4m (£2.68m).

Tripura, the northeastern state which is currently passing through a prolonged spell of unrest, is at the bottom of the table with average assets of Rs 15.4m (£150,000) per MLA.

Eighty-eight of the 4001 MLAs analysed by the advocacy group are ‘billionaires’, with Karnataka leading the way again with 32. It is followed by Maharashtra (12) and Andhra Pradesh (10) and Modi’s home state of Gujarat (five).

However, memes of parliament are not included in the analysis.

Shivakumar whose party rode to power in Karnataka in the May assembly election has denied being the richest.

“I am not the richest, and I’m not poor” either, he said, adding he acquired his assets “over a long period.”

According to the assets declared by the lawmakers during elections in their states and union territories, the BJP’s Nirmal Kumar Dhara from West Bengal is the poorest MLA with his declared assets worth just Rs 1,700.

Corruption has long been a major election issue in India where the per capita income is $2,601, ranked 139th in the world.