Punjab 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, a new report from Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) says. Further, Sukhbir Singh Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal has declared an increase of Rs 100 crore in his wealth between 2017 and 2022.
ADR and Punjab Election Watch have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 101 re-contesting MLAs in the upcoming Punjab assembly elections. The report says that assets of 78 legislators have increased ranging from two per cent to 2,954 per cent while that of 21 MLAs has decreased by two to 74 per cent.
Punjab’s 117 assembly seats are going for polls in a single phase on February 20. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.
The report says that the average assets of the 101 re-contesting MLAs fielded by various parties including independents in 2017 was Rs 13.34 crore that has increased to Rs 16.10 crore now.
“The average asset growth for these 101 re-contesting MLAs, between the Punjab assembly elections of 2017 and 2022 is Rs 2.76 crore (21 per cent),” it added.
Among the top gainers is Sukhbir Singh Badal, who served as the deputy chief minister of Punjab between 2009 and 2017. He has declared a maximum jump in assets with an increase of Rs 100 crore — from Rs 102 crore in 2017 to Rs 202 crore in 2022.
The second-highest increase is of Congress’s Manpreet Singh Badal, who is from the Bathinda Urban constituency. His wealth has gone up by Rs 32 crore— from Rs 40 crore in 2017 to Rs 72 crore in 2022.
Assets of Aman Arora of the Aam Aadmi Party from Sunam constituency have risen by Rs 29 crore— from Rs 65 crore in 2017 to Rs 95 crore in 2022. Fourth on the list is former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh. His wealth increased from Rs 48.31 crore in 2017 to Rs 68.73 crore now.
It is also interesting to note that while the Congress was the ruling party during the said phase, the average increase in assets for its 67 re-contesting MLAs is just Rs 1.47 crore while that of SAD’s 14 re-contesting MLAs is 8.18 crore. For AAP’s 10 MLAs, it is Rs 3.21 crore while for newly formed Punjab Lok Congress’s sole candidate Amarinder Singh, it is Rs 20.41 crore.
AAP’s Baljinder Kaur has reported the highest jump in assets in terms of percentage — 2,954 per cent — from Rs 3.65 lakh to Rs 1.11 crore. An English professor by profession, Kaur was elected to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha for the first time in 2017.
On the other hand, the wealth of Congress CM candidate Channi and state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu has reduced between 2017 and 2022, the report said. Channi’s assets have dropped from Rs 14.51 crore in 2017 to Rs 9.45 crore in 2022 and Sidhu’s to Rs 44.65 crore from Rs 45.90 crore.
The wealth of SAD’s Bikram Singh Majithia has reduced by more than half, Rs 13.15 crore, during the same period — from Rs 25.22 crore in 2017 to Rs 12.07 crore now. Former leader of opposition in the Punjab assembly Sukhpal Singh Khaira, who quit AAP in 2019 and joined Congress last year, has reported a drop in wealth worth Rs 16.49 crore — from Rs 66.82 crore in 2017 to Rs 50.32 crore now.
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