The number of candidates who have declared their assets to be over a crore has increased across parties between the 2018 elections and 2023 elections in Karnataka, according to the report released by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on Wednesday. While 96% of BJP candidates are crorepatis, the share is 97% in the Congress, and 82% in the JD(S).
“Out of the 2,586 candidates analysed, 1087 (42%) are crorepatis. In 2018 Assembly Elections, out of 2,560 candidates, 883 (35%) were crorepatis,” the report said. Further, the report said that 592 candidates (23%) have declared assets more than ₹5 crore while 272 (11%) have assets worth ₹2 crore to ₹5 crore.
The average assets of Congress candidates are higher than BJP and JD(S) candidates, the report found out. An average Congress candidate’s assets are worth ₹49.83 crore while the average assets of BJP and JD(S) candidates are ₹39.41 crore and ₹24.45 crore, respectively. “The role of money power in our elections is evident from the fact that all major political parties give ticket to wealthy candidates,” the report said.
