Balbir Singh, a member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has been declared as the ‘poorest’ Rajya Sabha MP. The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has prepared a report based on the declared assets of Rajya Sabha members, according to which Balbir Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, possesses the least amount of assets, with a declared value of only Rs 3 lakh. In this list, Sanjay Singh from the Aam Aadmi Party holds the third position, declaring assets worth Rs 6 lakh.
Among the richest Rajya Sabha members listed in the ADR report, the name of Bharatiya Rashtriya Samithi’s Bandy Partha Sarathi stands out. According to ADR, he is the richest Rajya Sabha MP in the country, declaring assets worth 5,300 crore rupees. Following him is YSRCP’s Alla Ayodhya Rama Reddy, with assets valued at 2,577 crore rupees, and in third place is Jayaa Bachchan, a Samajwadi Party MP with assets valued at Rs 1,001 crore. Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi holds the fourth position with assets worth Rs 649 crore. Independent MP Kapil Sibal possesses assets valued at Rs 608 crore and is in the fifth position among the wealthiest MPs.
The report indicates that 12% of Rajya Sabha MPs have assets exceeding Rs 100 crore. Among them, 6 are from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and 4 each from the Congress and YSRCP. The wealthiest billionaires among the Rajya Sabha members come from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Wealth disparity exists in Parliament also:
Most of the Rajya Sabha sitting Members of Parliament (MPs) either have assets of Rs 10 crore and above or assets worth less than Rs 20 lakh. 37 per cent of sitting MPs have declared that they are in possession of assets worth Rs 10 crore and above. While, 34 per cent of them have declared assets worth less than Rs 20 lakh. Currently, there are 225 sitting MPs in Rajya Sabha.
Is not that everybody is poor in AAP:
Talking about AAP, 30 per cent of total 10 Rajya Sabha MPs from AAP are billionaires.
Talking about BJP, only seven per cent of total 85 Rajya Sabha MPs from BJP are billionaires.
Bharatiya Rashtriya Samithi is the party with wealthiest MPs in the Rajya Sabha:
Bharatiya Rashtriya Samithi not only has the richest Rajya Sabha MP but also it is the party with highest combined wealth of all its MPs. While, BJP ranks third after Bharatiya Rashtriya Samithi and YSR Congress Party.
While, total assets of all Rajya Sabha sitting MPs taken together from all parties is Rs 18,210 crore.
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