More than 94% of the MLAs in Uttar Pradesh who are in the fray for a second successive term in the ongoing state elections have become richer in the last five years, a report released by non-government organisation Association for Democratic Reforms showed on Thursday.

The report is based on an analysis of affidavits submitted by 301 sitting MLAs and MLCs who are contesting the Uttar Pradesh elections. The affidavits submitted by the candidates to the Election Commission include self-declared information like their assets, pending criminal cases and demographic details.

Of the 301 MLAs and MLCs, the assets of 284 of them (94.35%) have increased , the report showed. Their average assets have also increased from Rs 5.68 crore in 2017 to Rs 8.87 crore in 2022.

Shah Alam (Guddu Jamali), the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen candidate from Mubarakpur constituency has declared the maximum increase in assets with an increase of
Rs 77.09 crore, from Rs 118.76 crore in 2017 to Rs 195.85 crore in 2022.

However, in terms of percentage increase, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Rae Bareli candidate Aditi Singh’s assets have risen by a staggering 22,057%, from Rs 13.98 lakh in 2017 to Rs 30.84 crore in 2022.

Of the 301 MLAs and MLCs whom the Association for Democratic Reforms analysed, 223 are BJP candidates. The assets of these candidates have increased 59.87% on an average, from Rs 5.27 crore in 2017 to Rs 8.43 crore in 2022.

The assets of 55 Samajwadi Party candidates seeking a re-election have risen by 46.18%, from Rs 4.60 crore in 2017 to Rs 6.73 crore in 2022, the report showed.

Source: Association for Democratic Reforms

Criminal cases

In a separate report based on the analysis of 4,406 out of 4,442 candidates in fray in Uttar Pradesh showed that 26% of them candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.

The number of candidates with criminal cases rose from 859 in 2017 to 1,142 in 2022. As many as 889 (20%) candidates have declared that cases of serious crimes are pending against them, up from 704 (15%) in 2017.

Offences which are non-bailable and could result in a jail term of five years or more, are classified as serious crimes.

Among the major parties, 224(65%) out of 347 of the Samajwadi Party’s candidates have criminal cases against them. Meanwhile, 33 candidates analysed from the Rashtriya Lok Dal, 169 (45%) out of 374 candidates of the BJP and 160 (40%) of the 397 candidates of Congress face criminal charges, the report showed.

Source: Association for Democratic Reforms

The report also showed that 39% of the candidates have assets worth more than Rs 1 crore, up from 30% in 2017.

The number of women candidates also increased from 445(9%) out of 4,823 candidates in 2017 to 560(13%) out of 4,442 candidates in 2022, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms.

Congress has the highest number (39%) of women candidates in percentage terms. Both BJP and Samajwadi Party have given 12% of their tickets to women, while the Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded 9% women candidates.