Assembly polls 2016 : ADR survey shows over half the elected MLAs are crorepatis

New Delhi At least 428 MLAs or nearly half of all the winners in recently concluded assembly elections — in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, West Bengal and Puducherry — are crorepatis, a survey by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said on Friday. The survey included analysis of poll affidavits filed by as many as 812 elected MLAs, ADR said, while adding that the affidavits for some others could not be taken into account as they were ‘badly scanned’. Puducherry has the maximum 83 percent of crorepati MLAs, followed by Tamil Nadu (76 percent) and Assam (57 percent). However, only 34 percent of elected MLAs in West Bengal are crorepatis, while this percentage for Kerala is 44 per cent. [caption id=“attachment_2791746” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] In 2011, Assam had 39 percent of crorepati MLAs, while Kerala had 25 percent, Puducherry 63 percent, Tamil Nadu 51 percent and West Bengal 15 percent. In Puducherry, 30 MLAs were analysed of which 25 are crorepatis, while in Tamil Nadu 223 MLAs were analysed, with 170 emerging as crorepatis this year. Assam has 72 crorepatis out of 126 MLAs analysed, Kerala 61 crorepatis of 140 MLAs analysed and West Bengal has 100 crorepatis of 293 analysed, the survey by ADR added. In Assam, Naren Sonowal of Asom Gana Parishad has total assets of over Rs 33.94 crore, while in Kerala Thomas Chandy of NCP has total assets of more than Rs 92.37 crore. In Puducherry, Ashok Anand of All India NR Congress has total assets of over Rs 124 crore and West Bengal Samir Chakraborty of AITC has Rs 40.59 crore of total assets. In Tamil Nadu, Vasanthakumar of INC has Rs 337 crore of total assets and Jayalalithaa has Rs 113 crore in total assets, the survey added. A total of 186 MLAs have declared that they have never filed income tax returns (ITR). Kerala has the maximum percentage (60 percent) of MLAs who have not filed income tax returns, followed by West Bengal (20 percent). The survey further added that 49 MLAs have not even given their PAN details. Puducherry has the highest average assets (Rs 13.45 crore) of MLAs followed by Tamil Nadu with average assets of Rs 8.21 crore and Kerala with average assets of Rs 2.82 crore. The number of women MLAs is only 77 out of 812 analysed in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, West Bengal and Puducherry 2016 assembly elections. On analysis based on age, the survey said that five MLAs are above 80 years of age, while 38 are aged 71 to 80 years, 187 (61 to 70 years), 278 (51 to 60 years), 212 (41 to 50 years), 87 (31 to 40 years) and 5 (25 to 30 years). Analysis based on education showed that there are 19 MLAs with PhD degree. The maximum number of MLAs (10) with PhD are from West Bengal followed by Tamil Nadu with 5 MLAs. Apart from PhD, there are 480 or 59 percent MLAs with graduate or above degrees, it said. National Election Watch (NEW) groups in the five states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, West Bengal and Puducherry have analysed the affidavits of 812 MLAs elected in 2016 elections.