During the last assembly elections held in Himachal Pradesh in 2007, only 16 per cent of the total candidates were crorepatis.
According to a report just released by the Association for Democratic Reforms and the Himachal Pradesh Election Watch, today 33 per cent of the total 445 candidates are crorepatis.
The candidate with maximum assets is Congress leader Brij Behari Lal Butail from Palampur constituency who has assets worth Rs 169 crore, followed by Independent candidate Balbir Singh Verma who has assets worth Rs 41crore and Congress leader Ram Kumar with assets worth Rs 36 crore.
On the other hand, 58 candidates have declared assets less than Rs 5 lakh. The three candidates with lowest assets are Himachal Swbhaviman Party leader Om Prakash from Baijnath constituency who has declared assets worth Rs 2,000, followed by his party colleague Rama Mahendra from Palampur constituency with assets worth Rs 10,000 and Samajwadi Party leader Shiv Kumar from Sarkaghat constituency with assets worth Rs 10,000.
Twelve per cent of the candidates declared liabilities of Rs 25 lakh or above.
Independent candidate Balbir Singh Verma from Chopal has liabilities worth Rs. 11.42 crore, followed by Congress leader G S Bali from Nagrota constituency with liabilities worth Rs 9.96 crore and independent candidate Rajesh Sharma from Kangra constituency with liabilities worth Rs 3.68 crore.
The average asset per candidate for Congress is Rs 7.39 crore, for BJP is approximately Rs 1.55 crore, for Communist Party of India Marxist Rs 1.72 crore, for Nationalist Congress Party Rs 77.61 lakh, for Bahujan Samaj Party Rs 54.32 lakh, for Trinamool Congress Rs 49.51 lakh and for SP Rs 29.73 lakh.
As many as 79 candidates have not yet declared their PAN card details. These include three crorepati candidates Independent candidate Jayoti from Kasumpti constituency, CPM candidate Tikender Panwar from Shimla constituency and SP candidate Vijay Kumar from Nahan constituency.
Of the 445 candidates analysed, 248 have completed graduation and higher eductaion.
Of the 445 candidates contesting for Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, only 27 candidates are women. In 2007, only 25 of the total 336 candidates were women.
The average assets of candidates fielded by various parties in 2007 was Rs 1,90,95,134 (Rs 1.9 crore)
The average assets of the re-contesting candidates now in 2012 is Rs 4,24,16,673 (4.24 crore)
The average asset growth for these re-contesting candidates is Rs 2,33,21,539 (Rs 2.33 crore) and the average percentage growth in assets for these re-contesting candidates is 122 per cent.
Congress leader Brij Behari Lal Butail from Palampur has declared the highest increase in assets -- from Rs. 91.92 crore in 2007 to Rs 169.21 crore in 2012. Assets of Congress leader Anil Kumar have increased by Rs 26.59 crore, from Rs 3.11 crore in 2007 to Rs 29.70 crore in 2012.
Assets of Congress leader G S Bali have risen by Rs 21.03 crore, from Rs 3.81 crore in 2007 to Rs 24.85 crore in 2012.
The highest percentage increase -- a whopping 7,463 per cent -- in assets has been declared by Congress leader Bumber Thakur from Bilaspur constituency -- from Rs. 1.35 lakh in 2007 to Rs 1.02 crore in 2012.
BSP leader Nathu Ram from Shillai constituency has declared an increase in assets of 4921 per cent -- from Rs 50,000 in 2007 to Rs 25.1 lakh in 2012. CPI leader Aman Guleria from Kangra constituency witnessed an increase of 4067 per cent in his assets -- from Rs 12,000 in 2007 to Rs 5 lakh in 2012.
Seven candidates have reported a decrease in assets in 2012. They are Himachal Lokhit Party leader Khushi Ram Balnath,
BJP leader Govind Ram, Congress leader Asha Kumari, CPM leader Ram Kishan, Congress leaders Mansa Ram, Harshwardhan and Lakhvinder Singh.
Fifty four sitting Members of Legislative Assembly, who are ontesting the forthcoming elections, had an average asset of Rs 1,38,42,325 (Rs 1.38 crore) in 2007.
The average assets of these MLAs who are contesting elections again now in 2012 is Rs 3,76,06,528 (Rs 3.76 crore).
Today the average growth in assets for these re-contesting MLAs is Rs 2,37,64,202 (Rs 2.37crore).
The average percentage growth in assets for these re-contesting MLAs is 172 per cent.
Congress MLA Anil Kumar from Mandi has declared the highest increase in assets -- his assets have grown from Rs. 3.11 crore in 2007 to Rs 29.70 crore in 2012.
Assets of Congress MLA G S Bali from Nagrota have increased by Rs 21.03 crore -- from Rs 3.81 crore in 2007 to Rs 24.81 crore in 2012.
Assets of Congress MLA Dr Subhash Chand Manglate have risen by Rs 7.03 crore, from Rs 19.42 lakh in 2007 to Rs 7.22 crore in 2012. He has declared the highest percentage increase of 3621 per cent.
BSP MLA Sanjay Kumar from Kangra has shown a percentage increase in assets of 1959 per cent, from Rs 3.57 lakh in 2007 to Rs 73.49 lakh in 2012.
The assets of Dr Rajiv Sahjal, a BJP MLA from Kasauli, have witnessed an asset growth of 1936 per cent, from Rs 1.53 lakh in 2007 to Rs 31.15 lakh in 2012.
Four MLAs have reported a decrease in assets in 2012. They are BJP leader Khushi Ram Balnath, who is now contesting on a HLP ticket, from Kasumpti, BJP leader Govind Ram from Arki, Congress leaders Harshwardhan from Shillai and Lakhvinder Singh from Nalagarh.
