A report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Rajasthan Election Watch has brought to light the financial and criminal backgrounds of the 199 sitting Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) in Rajasthan. According to the report, a total of 157 MLAs or 79% are crorepatis, indicating that they have declared assets worth over ₹1 crore.

The report, which analysed the affidavits submitted by candidates before the 2018 Assembly elections and subsequent by-elections, provides a detailed breakdown of the wealth distribution among different political parties. The report analysed the assets of 199 or the 200 MLAs as one seat of Udaipur remains vacant in the outgoing Assembly.

Out of the 108 Congress MLAs analysed, 88 (81%) are crorepatis, while 54 (78%) out of 69 BJP MLAs fall into the same category. Additionally, 12 out of 14 Independent MLAs and two out of three Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) MLAs have declared assets exceeding ₹1 crore.

Among the wealthiest MLAs, the report highlights Congress leaders Parasram Mordia with assets worth ₹172 crore, Anjana Udailal with ₹107 crore and Vishvendra Singh with ₹104 crore. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has assets worth over ₹ 11 crore and his former deputy Sachin Pilot declared assets worth ₹ 7.5 crore, while former Chief Minister and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje and BJP state president CP Joshi have assets worth ₹4 crore each.

The report also revealed that the average assets per sitting MLA stood at ₹ 7.49 crore. Breaking down the figures based on political parties, the analysis shows that the average assets per MLA for 108 Congress members stand at ₹ 9.28 crore. For the 69 BJP MLAs, the average is ₹5.45 crore, while the lone RLD MLA’s assets stood at ₹2.55 crore. Additionally, the 2 Bhartiya Tribal Party MLAs have assets totalling ₹7.66 lakh, and the 2 CPI (M) MLAs have assets worth ₹24.24 lakh. Furthermore, the three RLP MLAs’ average assets are worth ₹1.19 crore, and 14 Independent MLAs boast average assets of ₹7.54 crore, as per the report.

Delving into the educational qualifications of the MLAs, the report reveals that 128 (64%) hold a graduate degree or higher, whereas 59 (30%) have qualifications ranging from 5th pass to 12th pass. Strikingly, seven MLAs have declared themselves as just literate.

In terms of gender representation, the report points out that out of the 199 MLAs, only 27 (14%) are women.

The report also revealed that 46 MLAs (23%) have declared criminal cases pending against themselves, while 28 (14%) have serious criminal cases pending.

(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)