The average increase in the assets of 94 Punjab MLAs who are contesting the February 4 election was 28 per cent while assets of Navjot Singh Sidhu has risen to Rs 45.9 crore from Rs 14.5 crore, said a report prepared by Punjab Election Watch (PEW), a civil watchdog for improving electoral processes.
The average increase in absolute terms was Rs 13.79 crore from 2012 till 2017, said PEW state coordinator Jaskirat Singh at the release of a report of the analysis of assets comparison of 94 legislators
PEW, an affiliate of the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), said comparison of the MLAs assets was made after analysing the declarations made by these candidates during the 2012 and 2017 polls.
In the case of Sidhu, the Congress candidate from Amritsar East, his assets increased to Rs 45.9 crore up from Rs 14.50 crore declared during 2009 Lok Sabha polls.
Assets of AAP MP Bhagwant Mann who is pitted against deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal from Jalalabad has rather dropped to Rs 1.99 crore from Rs 4.30 crore declared in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he said.
Giving party-wise details, Jaskirat said the average increase in assets of nominees of SAD, Congress and BJP was Rs 1.67 crore (17.26%), Rs 4.96 crore (35.64%) and Rs 1.2 lakh (0.44%), respectively.
The PEW state coordinator said among top five candidates who have seen highest jump in assets, four are from Congress and one is SAD nominee.
Congress candidate Rana Gurjit Singh has seen highest rise of Rs 101.41 crore (148%) as compared to assets declared during 2012 polls. Rana, who is contesting from Kapurthala, has declared total assets to the tune of Rs 169.89 crore in his declarations, he said.
On second number is Congress nominee Sundar Sham Arora from Hoshiarpur seat whose assets jumped by Rs 22.83 crore (105%) to Rs 44.60 crore.
