Chhattisgarh: 72 newly-elected MLAs are crorepatis; BJP tops list

Raipur: As many as 72 out of 90 MLAs in the newly-elected Chhattisgarh legislative assembly are crorepatis, four more compared to the previous Vidhan Sabha.

The BJP, which won a landslide victory in the recently-held elections, tops this list with 43 crorepati MLAs, followed by Congress.

Out of 90 seats, the BJP has won 54 and Congress 35.

A total of 72 newly-elected MLAs (80 per cent of the House strength) are crorepatis. The BJP tops the list with 43 (80 %) of 54 MLAs each having declared assets valued at more than Rs 1 crore.

At 29, 83% of 35 MLAs of Congress are crorepatis, as per the analysis done by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the Chhattisgarh Election Watch.

The average of assets per winning candidate in the state assembly elections held this time is Rs 5.25 crore compared to Rs 11.63 crore in the 2018 assembly polls.

With assets worth Rs 33.86 crore, BJP's first-time MLA Bhawan Bohra (Pandariya seat) tops the crorepati club, followed by the outgoing chief minister and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel (Patan constituency) with assets worth Rs 33.38 crore. BJP's Amar Agrawal (Bilaspur seat) stands at a third position with assets valued over Rs 27 crore.

Congress MLA from Chandrapur, Ramkumar Yadav, and his BJP counterparts Ramkumar Toppo and Gomati Sai, the incumbent MP who contested the assembly elections, are at the bottom of the list of MLAs with the lowest assets.

Yadav has declared assets worth Rs 10 lakh, the lowest among all MLAs, Toppo Rs 13.12 lakh, and Sai Rs 15.47 lakh, as per the analysis.

The report also states that 33 out of 90 MLAs (37 per cent) have declared their educational qualification as having passed class 5 to class 12. At 54, a maximum of 60 per cent of the total MLAs hold graduate degrees or higher qualifications. Two others hold diplomas while an MLA has declared himself as just "literate".

A total of 44 winning candidates (49 per cent) have declared their age between 25 and 50 years while 46 others (51 per cent) are between 51 and 80 years.

BJP's Domanlal Korsewada (75), elected from the Ahiwara (SC) seat is the oldest MLA in the newly-elected assembly while Congress' Bilaigarh (SC) legislator Kavita Pran Lahrey (30) is the youngest of all.