As many as 205 of the 230 newly-elected MLAs in Madhya Pradesh are crorepatis with state Congress president Kamal Nath figuring among the three richest lawmakers with more than Rs 134 crore worth of assets.

Newly-elected BJP MLA from Ratlam City, Chaitanya Kashyap, tops the list with declared assets worth Rs 296 crore, while his party colleague Sanjay Satyendra Pathak (Vijayraghavgarh) was at the second spot with Rs 242 crore assets, according an Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) report.

It said the number of MLAs possessing assets worth more than Rs 1 crore increased to 205 in 2023 from 187 in 2018. Of these crorepati MLAs, 144 are from the BJP and 61 from the Congress.

The BJP swept the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, winning 163 seats, increasing its tally from 109 in 2018. The Congress, which had won 114 seats in 2018 in the state, was reduced to 66 seats, while new entrant Bharat Adivasi Party managed to win in one constituency.

The winning candidate of the Bharat Adivasi Party, Kamlesh Dodiyar, leads among the newly elected MLAs with lowest assets. Dodiyar has declared assets worth Rs 18 lakh.

Two other candidates with lowest assets included BJP's Santosh Varkade (Sihora) with assets worth Rs 25 lakh and his party colleague Kanchan Mukesh Tanve (Khandwa) with assets totalling Rs 26 lakh, said the report.

Among the candidates having highest liabilities, BJP's former minister Surendra Patwa (Bhojpur) is leading with debt of Rs 57 crore, Dinesh Jain (Mahidpur) of the Congress was on second place with Rs 30 crore and BJP's Bhupendra Singh (Khurai) on third with Rs 23 crore, said the ADR.

The report said of the 205 crorepatis, 102 MLAs have declared assets of Rs 5 crore and above. As many as 71 legislators have declared assets between Rs 2 crore and Rs 5 crore. Also, 48 legislators have declared assets between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 2 crores while nine of the elected MLAs own assets lower than Rs 50 lakh.

The average assets of the newly-elected MLAs stood at Rs 11.77 crore, up from Rs 10.17 crore in 2018, said the report.

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