My Columns: Without Fear and Favour

Candidates in Delhi Polls with Low Income By  Deepak Parvatiyar January 5, 2015 Studies have shown that politicians with deep pockets have higher chances of winning elections. However, there have been exceptions everywhere. In Delhi, Dharmender Singh Koli of the Aam Aadmi Party was the ‘poorest’ MLA with assets worth just Rs 20,800. He did not have a PAN card. Another such ‘underprivileged’ candidate who won was the AAP’s Rakhi Birla, who had declared assets worth only Rs 51,150. Despite lacking wealth – an essential prerequisite for winning modern day elections, Koli, just 28 year of age, could get the ticket and emerge victorious. He was the brother of Santosh Koli, a social activist and associate of the AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal who was killed in an accident just before the Delhi elections. Obviously, the financial aspects were redundant as Koli rode high on the sympathy wave for his sister and won from Seemapuri constituency. What worked for him was general a...

Richest MLAs of Delhi By  Deepak Parvatiyar January 3, 2015 The influence of big money on politics is more obvious than ever and huge expenses in election campaigning is reflective of the growing role of money power. It is no coincidence therefore that politics is fast becoming the domain of the rich and powerful with an ever-growing number of moneyed politicians. The case of Delhi is no different. Here the percentage of crorepati MLAs rose from 69 in 2008 to 73 after the assembly election in 2013. More significantly, the average asset per Delhi legislator saw a sharp rise from Rs. 2.94 crore in 2008 elections to 10.83 crore in 2013, while the number of crorepati MLAs rose from 47 in the 70-member Delhi assembly in 2008 to 51 in 2013. The rise could be attributed to the appreciation of land prices in the national capital. Yet, the role of money cannot be negated in electoral politics. Even the Aam Aadmi Party – that called itself to be the representative of the d...