DHNS
Bangalore, May 21: Believe it or not, politics is the most lucrative profession in the state. And some politicians have proved it by earning crores of rupees in just four years!
A report released by Delhi-based Association for Democratic Reforms (ARD), formed by professors of the IIMs, showed how dramatically asset of some politicians, who got elected in the 2004 Assembly election, has gone up in the last four years. In some cases, the increase in the value of the assets is more than 2,000 per cent!
The ARD, which is striving to create an awareness among the voters to elect honest persons, has collected information regarding assets of the ex-MLAs, who are contesting in this elections, from the asset declaration affidavits submitted by them to the Election Commission.
Total asset of 28 Congress candidates has gone up from Rs 34.60 crore to 182.58 crore, showing an increase of 427.7 per cent. Assets of 22 BJP candidates has surged from Rs 14.15 crore to Rs 45.48 crore, registering a growth of 221.5 per cent. Assets of the 13 JD(S) candidates has increased from Rs 9.24 crore to Rs 22.65 crore, posting a growth of 145.2 per cent.
Among the Congress candidates, Ajaykumar Sarnayak from Bilgi has the credit of accumulating highest wealth in the last four years. Value of his asset has moved up from Rs 93 lakh in 2004 to Rs 21.25 crore in 2008, registering a growth of 2181 per cent! Among the BJP candidates, Rajkumar Patil Telkur from Sedam constituency is the richest man. Net value of his wealth has gone up from just Rs 12 lakh in 2004 to Rs 2.59 crore in 2008, posting an impressive growth of 1990 per cent!
Mallikarjun Khuba from Basavakalyan is the richest man among the JD(S) ex-MLAs. Value of his assets rose from Rs 36 lakh in 2004 to Rs 3.43 crore in 2008, showing an increase of 847.9 per cent.
Prof Trilochan Sastry, the brain behind the ARD, said there were still several politicians (who are contesting from different constituencies in North Karnataka) who deliberately avoided giving complete information regarding their assets to the Election Commission. He urged the EC to initiate a CBI probe against such politicians and also against those whose property had gone up phenomenally in the last four years. “There is an urgent need for investigating source of income of politicians and how they amassed wealth of such an unimaginable size and value,” he added.