93% of Lok Sabha election winners are millionaires: ADR report

An overwhelming 93% of the winners in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are millionaires, marking an increase from 88% in 2019, says a recent analysis by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR).

Among the 543 victorious candidates, 504 have declared assets exceeding ₹1 crore. The wealthiest of these are TDP’s Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani from Andhra Pradesh's Guntur constituency with assets worth ₹5,705 crore, BJP’s Konda Vishweshwar Reddy from Telangana’s Chevella with assets of ₹4,568 crore, and BJP’s Naveen Jindal from Haryana’s Kurukshetra with assets amounting to ₹1,241 crore.

The data highlights a consistent upward trend in the wealth of elected officials. In 2019, 88% of winning candidates were millionaires, compared to 82% in 2014, and just 58% in 2009.

The report also breaks down the financial status of winners by party affiliation.

Among BJP's 240 winners, 227 (95%) are millionaires. Similarly, 92 (93%) of Congress’s 99 winners, 21 (95%) of DMK’s 22, 27 (93%) of TMC’s 29, and 34 (92%) of Samajwadi Party’s 37 winners have assets over ₹1 crore. Additionally, all winners from AAP (3), JDU (12), and TDP (16) are millionaires.

ADR's analysis also examines the impact of wealth on electoral success. The likelihood of a millionaire candidate winning was found to be 19.6%, significantly higher than the 0.7% chance for candidates with assets below ₹1 crore.

The financial distribution among the winners is also noteworthy. About 42% possess assets over ₹10 crore, 19% have assets between ₹5 crore and ₹10 crore, and 32% hold assets ranging from ₹1 crore to ₹5 crore. Only 1% of the winners have assets under ₹20 lakh.

The average assets per winning candidate vary widely among major parties. TDP leads with an average of ₹442.26 crore per winner, followed by BJP at ₹50.04 crore, DMK at ₹31.22 crore, Congress at ₹22.93 crore, TMC at ₹17.98 crore, and SP at ₹15.24 crore.

There are significant disparities within the financial profiles of these candidates. For example, BJP’s Jyotirmay Singh Mahato from West Bengal’s Purulia declared assets worth just ₹5 lakh, TMC’s Mitali Bag from West Bengal’s Arambag has ₹7 lakh, and SP’s Priya Saroj from Uttar Pradesh’s Machhlishahr holds ₹11 lakh in assets.

The report also identifies candidates with substantial liabilities. TDP’s Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani has liabilities exceeding ₹1,038 crore, DMK’s S Jagathratchakan from Tamil Nadu’s Arakkonam has ₹649 crore in liabilities, and TDP’s Prabhakar Reddy Vemireddy from Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore has liabilities of ₹197 crore.