Mumbai: Mahayuti candidates in Mumbai recorded an average of 150% of growth in their financial assets in the last five years whereas Maha Vikas Aghadi candidates recorded only 20% of growth in their assets. Similarly, Mahayuti’s candidates in Maharashtra recorded an average of 59% of wealth growth while the Maha Vikas Aghadi candidates recorded 18% of growth on average.
Informed Voter Project, a non-profit institution that aims to inform the voters about their potential representatives, released their analysis report about the year-on-year growth of financial assets of candidates contesting the upcoming Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha elections.
According to the report, the financial assets of Mahayuti candidates in Mumbai has increased by an average of 150% in five years from Rs 62.5 Cr worth of average assets in 2019 to Rs 156.4 Cr in 2024. On the other hand, the assets of MVA candidates increased by an average of only 20% in the same timeframe, from Rs 27.3 Cr to Rs 32.8 Cr.
Similarly, the financial assets of Mahayuti candidates in Maharashtra increased by an average of 59% in five years from Rs 29.6 Cr worth of average assets in 2019 to Rs 47.1 Cr in 2024. On the other hand, the assets of MVA candidates increased by an average of 18% in the same timeframe, from Rs 22.5 Cr to Rs 26.5 Cr.
The report highlighted that while the average growth rate of wealth for an ordinary Indian has been merely 0.7% every year in the last 4 years, the wealth of candidates belonging to the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra has grown 17 times faster. The report said that the the wealth of MVA candidates has grown at a 70% lower rate than Mahayuti candidates and has grown 5 times the rate of an ordinary Indian.
According to the report, which sourced all the data from the candidates’ affidavits filed with the Election Commission of India, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Mahadev Ghatak from Bhiwandi Rural recorded the highest wealth growth of 1724% in the last five years. He was followed by Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Shirsat from Aurangabad West at 663% growth and NCP’s Atul Wandile from Hinganghat at 649% growth.
In terms of the highest wealth, the top three candidates belong to the BJP with Ghatkopar (E)’s Parag Shah on top with assets worth Rs 3383.07 Cr, followed by Panvel’s Prashant Thakur with Rs 475.86 Cr of assets and Malabar Hill’s Mangal Prabhat Lodha with 447.1 Cr of assets. The list also included Pratap Sarnaik, Abu Azmi, Milind Deora, Shaina NC, Rahul Narwekar, Shivendraraje Bhonsle, Deepak Kesarkar and Ajit Pawar among others.
Similarly Shiv Sena’s Shaina NC from Mumbadevi stood out on the top in the list of highest wealth growth among candidates from Mumbai with 424% increase, followed by Parag Shah at 390% and Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Samir Desai from Goregaon at 374%.
The highest wealth gaining candidates also included Aslam Sheikh, Zeeshan Siddique, Ashish Shelar, Dilip Lande and Rahul Narwekar among others. Parag Shah topped the list of wealthiest candidates with Rs 3383.07 Cr followed by Lodha at 447.1 Cr and Abu Azmi at Rs 309.45 Cr.
