Elections 2014: For now, Cong leads the list of crorepati candidates

Clearly, being a politician isn’t all about service to the nation; most of them clearly know how to make money too. In fact, so many of them fall in the crorepati category, it’s mind-boggling.

The latest data confirms how very rich our netas/neta wannabes actually are. According to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), the average assets per candidate contesting from phase 1 to 5 of the Lok Sabha elections is Rs 5.83 crore. The ADR analysed the financial details of 3,305 candidates out of the 3,355 candidates standing for elections in phase 1 to 5.

Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 193 Indian National Congress (INC) candidates are Rs 54.4 crore; 202 Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) candidates have average assets of Rs 8.6 crore; 200 AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) candidates have average assets worth Rs 3.09 crore.

In other words, the average INC candidate has nearly 10 times as much assets as the average assets per candidate across the board. A BJP candidate’s assets are 50 percent more than the average candidates, while an AAP candidate’s assets are a little over 50 percent of the overall average.

With all those assets, it’s no surprise that the Congress also leads the pack in terms of crorepati candidates (candidates with assets over Rs 1 crore). ADR says that 84 percent of Congress candidates are crorepatis (phase 1 to 5), while 74 percent of BJP candidates are Indian rupee millionaires as well. AAP trails on this score as well: 43 percent of candidates are crorepatis.

Still, all that money doesn’t look like its going to help the Congress come back to power for a third term, judging by recent opinion polls. To see the ADR data, click here.