Controversial Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sadhvi Pragya Thakur is among the poorest Lok Sabha members of parliament, according to an analysis by election watchdog, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Thakur, who has not been fielded by BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024, has declared assets worth ₹4.4 Lakh, the ADR analysis said. She is the third poorest MP in the outgoing parliament. She won in 2019 from Bhopal seat in Madhya Pradesh.
Thakur, accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case had often courted controversies with her statements. In 2019, her debut attempt, Thakur defeated veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh by a margin of 3.65 lakh votes.
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In her affidavit filed in the run up to Lok Sabha Elections 2019, Thakur had mentioned a silver-coated brick that had Ram engraved on it. BJP had then said that the brick was meant for the construction of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, which was eventually inaugurated in January this year.
This time, Thakur has been replaced by Alok Sharma, a former mayor, for the Lok Sabha Elections
Poorest MP has ₹1.4 lakhs
YSRCP leader Goddeti Madhavi, who is an MP from Araku in Andhra Pradesh is the poorest of all Lok Sabha members. She has declared assets worth ₹1.4 lakhs. Madhavi is followed by Chandrani Murmu, BJD MP from Koenjhar with declared assets worth ₹ 3. 4 Lakh.
At 25, Murmu, a BTech graduate had in 2019 become the youngest ever Lok Sabha MP by defeating two-time MP Ananta Nayak from the reserved Keonjhar seat in Odisha.
Interestingly all three poorest Lok Sabha MPs are women, according to the ADR analysis. The analysis was released on March 28, two days after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said she cannot afford to contest elections.
₹20.71 crores average asset of an LS MP
The average assets per sitting MP for Lok Sabha 2019 elections are ₹ 20.71 crores, according to ADR.
While the poorest MPs has less than ₹ 2 lakh net worth, the richest, Congress’ Nakul Nath, has declared assets worth ₹660 Crore in 2019. Five years later, Nakul’s net worth has crossed ₹ 700 crore.
Among poorest Rajya Sabha MPs, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Balbir Singh is the poorest with assets worth ₹3.72 lakh, ADR said last year. Singh is followed by BJP’s Maharaja Sanajaoba Leishemba from Manipur who has assets worth ₹5.48 lakh and jailed MP of AAP Sanjay Singh who has declared assets worth ₹6.60 lakh.
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Published: 29 Mar 2024, 06:17 PM IST