Press Release:Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections 2012 65% Crorepati MLAs, 21% newly elected MLAs with declared criminal cases, 4% newly elected MLAs are women
ADR India
Please find attached the following reports:
1. Analysis of Criminal, Financial and other background details of the newly elected MLAs of Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections 2012
2. Analysis of asset increase of newly elected MLAs recontesting Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections 2012
For detailed reports, please visit: http://adrindia.org/research-and-reports/state-assemblies/himachal-pradesh
Highlights: Analysis of Criminal, Financial and other background details of newly elected MLAs
· Himachal Pradesh Election Watch (HPEW) has analyzed affidavits of all 68 newly elected MLAs in Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly Elections 2012.
· Out of the 68 newly elected MLAs, 14 MLAs or 21% have declared criminal cases against them. In 2007 assembly elections, 26 MLAs or 39% MLAs declared criminal cases against themselves.
· Amongst all the major parties, INC has 10 (28%) MLAs out of 36 whereas BJP has 3 (12%) out of 26 MLAs who have declared criminal cases against themselves.
· MLAs with Serious Criminal Cases: Out of these 68 MLA with declared criminal cases, 5 have declared serious criminal cases like kidnapping or abducting, abetment of suicide, forgery etc. INC has 3 and BJP has 2 such MLAs.
· The top 3 newly elected MLAs who have declared serious criminal cases are Vinay Kumar of INC from Sri Renukaji constituency with charges of abetment of suicide, Ravinder Singh of BJP from Dehra constituency with charges related to kidnapping and Anirudh Singh of INC from Kasumpti constituency with charges related to theft.
· MLAs against whom charges have been framed: Out of these 68 MLAs with declared criminal cases, charges have been framed against 7 MLAs for various crimes.
- MLAs with cases under Prevention of Corruption Act: 2 MLAs have declared that they have cases registered against them under the “Prevention of Corruption Act”, namely Virbhadra Singh of INC from Shimla Rural constituency and Anirudh Singh of INC from Kasumpti.
· Crorepati MLAs: 44 (65%) MLAs out of 68 in the newly elected Himachal Pradesh Assembly are crorepatis. INC has 26 (72%) crorepati MLAs out of 36 and BJP has 13 (50%) crorepati MLAs out of 26. In 2007 assembly elections, 20 or 29% MLAs were crorepatis
· Brij Behari Lal Butail, of INC from Palampur constituency has declared the highest assets worth Rs. 169 crores, followed by Balbir Singh Verma an IND from Chopal with assets of Rs. 41 Crores, Ram Kumar of INC from Doon constituency with assets of Rs. 36 crores, Virbhadra Singh of INC from Shimla Rural constituency with assets worth Rs. 33 crores. BJP MLA Rajiv Bindal (14th in the list of crorepati MLAs) from Nahan constituency has declared assets of more than Rs. 6 crores.
· A total of 11 (17%) MLAs out of 68 have declared assets less than Rs. 50 Lakhs.
· Lowest Asset MLAs: Yadvinder Goma of INC from Jaisinghpur (SC) constituency has declared the lowest assets of Rs. 5.2 Lakhs followed by Hans Raj of BJP from Churah(SC) constituency with assets of Rs. 7 Lakhs and Bikram Singh of BJP from Bhattiyat constituency with assets with Rs. 7.09 Lakhs.
· Highest Liability MLAs: A total of 10 MLAs have declared liabilities in excess of Rs. 50 Lakhs
· The top three MLAs who have declared the highest liabilities are Balbir Singh Verma, an IND MLA from Chopal who has declared liabilities worth Rs. 11.42 Crores followed by G.S. Bali of INC from Nagrota constituency with liabilities worth Rs. 9.96 Crores and Rakesh Kalia an INC MLA from Gagret constituency with liabilities worth Rs. 2.92 Crores.
· Average Asset of MLAs party-wise: Amongst major parties the average asset per MLA for INC is Rs. 11.04 crores, for BJP it is Rs. 1.23 crores. The average asset per MLA for 5 Independent MLAs is Rs. 14 crores.
· 3 out of 68 (4%) MLAs have not declared their PAN details. In 2007 assembly elections 15 or 23% MLAs have not declared their PAN details.
· MLAs who have declared highest income in their ITRs: Balbir Singh an Independent MLA from Chopal constituency has declared the maximum income of Rs. 1.41 crores in his income tax returns (ITR) for the financial year 2011-12, followed by G.S. Bali of INC from Nagrota, with income of Rs. 1.12 crores for the financial year 2011-12, Virbhadra Singh of INC from Shimla Rural, with income of Rs. 60.75 lakhs for the financial year 2011-12. From BJP, Mahender Singh from Dharampur constituency has declared income of Rs. 30.76 Lakhs for the financial year 2011-12.
· 4 out of 68 (6%) MLAs have not declared their income tax returns (ITR).
· High Assets but no IT Return The MLAs who have declared maximum assets but haven’t filed ITR are Khub Ram of INC MLA from Anni (SC) constituency with assets of Rs. 60 Lakhs, Sanjay Rattan of INC from Jawalamukhi constituency with declared assets of Rs. 49.5 Lakhs, Bikram Singh of BJP from Bhattiyat constituency with declared assets of Rs. 7.09 Lakhs and Hans Raj of BJP MLA from Churah(SC) constituency with declared assets of Rs. 7 Lakhs.
· Educational Background of MLAs: 82% MLAs (56 out of 68) have a graduate or a higher educational qualification in the Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly of 2012.
· Women’s representation: 3 out of 68 (4%) newly elected MLAs are women. In 2007, 5 or 7% MLAs were women
· Age of MLAs: 18 MLAs out of total 68 are more than 61 years of age.
Highlights: Asset comparison of newly elected MLAs
· 47 newly elected MLAs whose complete affidavits were available from 2007 assembly elections have been analyzed for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections 2012
· The average assets of these newly elected MLAs (who contested elections in 2007 also) in 2007 was Rs 3,59,99,865 (3.59 crore)
· The average assets of these newly elected MLAs (who contested elections in 2007 also) now in 2012 is Rs 7,63,18,150 (7.63 crore)
· The average growth in assets for these re-contesting MLAs is Rs 4,03,18,284 (Rs 4.03 crore)
· Average percentage growth in assets for these re-contesting MLAs is 112%
· Brij Behari Lal Butail an INC MLA from Palampur has declared the highest increase in assets of Rs 77.29 crore, his assets have grown from Rs. 91.92 crore in 2007 to Rs 169.21 crore in 2012. Assets of Anil kumar (an INC MLA from Mandi) have increased by Rs 26.59 crore, from Rs 3.11 crore in 2007 to Rs 29.70 crore in 2012. Assets of G.S. Bali (of INC from Nagrota) have risen by Rs 21.03 crore, from Rs 3.81 crores in 2007 to Rs 24.85 crore in 2012. From BJP Rajiv Bindal re-elected MLA from Nahan constituency has shown assets increase of Rs 4.82 crore, from Rs 1.60 crore in 2007 to Rs 6.42 crore in 2012.
· Bumber Thakur an INC MLA from Bilaspur has declared the highest percentage increase in assets of 7463%, from Rs 1.35 lakh in 2007 to Rs 1.02 crore in 2012. Dr Rajiv Sanhjal a BJP MLA from Kasauli (SC) has shown a percentage increase in assets of 1936%, from Rs 1.53 lakh in 2007 to Rs 31.15 lakh in 2012. Rikhi Ram a BJP MLA from Jhanduta (SC) has shown his assets go up by 874%, from Rs 13.41 lakhs in 2007 to Rs 1.30 crores in 2012.
· 3 MLAs have reported a decrease in assets in 2012 as compared to their correponding value of assets in 2007. They are Govind Ram (29% reduction in assets, from Rs 65.66 lakh in 2007 elections to Rs 46.60 lakh in 2012) of BJP from Arki, Asha Kumari(33% dip in assets, from Rs 2.42 Crore in 2007 to Rs 1.62 Crore in 2012) of INC from Dalhousie and Mansa Ram (48% asset decrease, from Rs 1.69 crore in 2007 elections to Rs 88.64 Lakhs in 2012).
Thanks & Regards
Himachal Pradesh Election Watch (HPEW):
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Mr. V.K. Malik (Retd. DGP), Himachal Pradesh Election Watch T: 0177 - 2621262 |
Mr. Bhim Singh, Himachal Pradesh Election Watch |
Ms. Abha Bhaiya Himachal Pradesh Election Watch
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Mr. Sanjay Choudhary Himachal Pradesh Election Watch |
National Election Watch/Association for Democratic Reforms:
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Media and Journalist Helpline
Email: a...@adrindia.org |
Mr. Anil Bairwal, National Coordinator National Election Watch, and Association for Democratic Reforms a...@adrIndia.org, |
Prof Jagdeep Chhokar IIM Ahmedabad (Retd.) Founder Member National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms
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Prof Trilochan Sastry IIM Bangalore Founder Member, National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms
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