Punjab polls: Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi decreased by over Rs 5 crore.
Days before the assembly elections in Punjab, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has come out with a report that shows that Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's wealth has decreased by over Rs 5 crore while that of his predecessor Amarinder Singh has gone up by Rs 20 crore since 2017. The report further says that Sukhbir Singh Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has seen his net worth increase by Rs 100 crore since the last assembly election.
Chief Minister Channi declared assets worth Rs 14.51 crore in 2017, which went down to Rs 9.45 crore this year, according to the ADR report. Similarly, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, saw his wealth drop by Rs 1.25 crore - from Rs 45.90 crore in 2017 to Rs 44.65 crore this year.
The ADR report was released on Wednesday. It is based on the analysis done by ADR and Punjab Election Watch of the affidavits of 101 lawmakers who are contesting the assembly elections again. Punjab will vote for its 117 seats in a single phase on February 20 (Sunday).
The report says that the average assets of these 101 re-contesting MLAs, including those fielded by various parties and independents, in 2017 was Rs 13.34 crore which has now increased to Rs 16.10 crore.
The average asset growth for these lawmakers in the last five years is Rs 2.76 crore or 21 per cent, it adds.
It has also listed the five lawmakers with highest asset increase. The list is topped by Sukhbir Singh Badal of SAD, who declared an increase of Rs 100 crore in his assets - from Rs 102 crore in 2017 to Rs 202 crore in 2022. It also has the names of Manpreet Singh Badal of the Congress, Aman Arora of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Amarinder Singh (who has now formed Punjab Lok Congress Party) and Angad Singh, an independent MLA.
While Manpreet Singh Badal saw his assets go up by Rs 32 crore - from Rs 40 crore to Rs 72 crore - AAP's Aman Arora saw an increase of Rs 29 crore in his asset value, the ADR report says.
The party-wise comparison of the assets owned by the re-contesting MLAs presented an interesting picture. The assets of the ruling Congress' 67 MLAs increased by Rs 1.47 crore in the last five years, while the average rise in asset value of SAD lawmakers was Rs 8.18 crore. The assets of AAP's 10 lawmakers increased by Rs 3.21 crore, and that of Punjab Lok Congress' Amarinder Singh went up by Rs 20.41 crore.