New Delhi: The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Himachal Pradesh Election Watch have reported a significant increase in the assets of 49 re-contestants in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections in the last five years.

Of these, 49 candidates have seen an increase of 5% to 1167% in their assets, while the wealth of nine leaders has decreased by -4% to -37%. The average assets of these leaders in 2017 was Rs 9.30 crore. This has increased to Rs 12.08 crore in 2022. The average growth in assets has been 30%.

BJP MLA’s assets increased by 128 crores

The assets of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party MLA (Chopal) Balbir Singh Verma have increased from about 90.73 crores in 2017 to 128.45 crores in 2022. The assets of his party colleague Anil Sharma (Mandi) have increased from 40.24 crores in 2017 to 57.48 crores in 2022.

The assets of Congress’s Vikramaditya Singh (Shimla Rural) increased from 84.32 crores in 2017 to 17.06 crores to 101.39 crores in 2022.

BJP leaders recorded the highest average increase in assets of over 7 crore in 2017 to over 10 crore in 2022. Their wealth registered an increase of more than 44%. The average assets of Congress candidates increased by about 18% from 13 crores to 15 crores.

BJP’s 35, Congress 20 MLAs are contesting again

35 BJP MLAs are contesting again. Their average assets have gone up from Rs 7.25 crore to Rs 10.46 crore. On an average, their wealth has increased by 44.17 percent. At the same time, the assets of 20 Congress MLAs increased from Rs 13 crore to Rs 15.31 crore. The assets of a CPI(M) MLA increased from Rs 9.30 crore to Rs 12.08 crore, an increase of 7.22 per cent. The average assets of two independent MLAs increased from Rs 3.68 crore to Rs 4.45 crore.