A report by Association for Democratic Reforms and the National Election Watch has revealed that Karnataka's Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar is the richest sitting MLA in India with assets worth Rs 1,413 crore.
As per the 2023 affidavit submitted to the Election Commission, Shivakumar has a total of Rs 273 crore immovable assets. The total liabilities of DKS is Rs 265 crore. Karnataka has the 3 richest MLAs in the country. Meanwhile, a BJP MLA from West Bengal has the lowest assets worth Rs 1,700 in the country.
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Independent MLA KH Puttaswamy Gowda is the second richest with assets worth Rs 1,267 crore, followed by Congress MLA Priyakrishna Govindarajanagar with total assets worth Rs 1,156 crore.
The report analyzed 4001 sitting MLAs from 28 state assemblies and two Union Territories in India. Out of the 4001 MLAs 2% which is 88 are billionaires.
Karnataka has the highest average assets per MLA with average asset of Rs 64.39 crore. This is followed by Andhra Pradesh with average assets of Rs 28.24 crore and Maharashtra with average assets of Rs 23.51 crore.
Meanwhile, Tripura has the lowest average assets per MLA with average asset of Rs 1.54 crore, followed by West Bengal with average assets of Rs 2.80 crore and Kerala with average assets of Rs 3.15 crore.
Karnataka has the highest percentage of billionaire MLAs. Out of the 223 MLAs, 32 which is 14% are billionaires. This is followed by Arunachal Pradesh where 7% of the MLAs are billionaires. Billionaire MLAs in Andhra Pradesh account to 6%, 4% in Maharashtra, 3% in Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
Among the richest MLAs, 4 are from the Congress and 3 are from Bharatiya Janata Party