Rajasthan Elections 2023: 651 Contestants Are Crorepatis; BJP, Congress Field Highest Crorepati Candidates

Elections to the 199 assembly seats began in Rajasthan on Saturday. There are 200 assembly seats in Rajasthan however polling in one assembly constituency Karanpur seat of Sriganganagar district has been postponed due to the death of Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Koonar.

While the ruling Congress Party with Ashok Gehlot as its Chief Minister is looking for the second consecutive term in power, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is looking to unseat the Gehlot-led government in the state, emphasizing highly on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity.

In the current state assembly elections in Rajasthan, as many as 651 crorepati candidates are contesting elections. Since money and muscle power play an important role during an election, the money factor seems to have played a role when parties were distributing tickets to these candidates.

According to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) report, out of a total of 1875 candidates in Rajasthan, there are 651 crorepatis. The richest candidate is the Congress Party candidate from the Churu Assembly seat, Rafiq Mandoliya. At the same time, BJP has fielded the maximum number of crorepati candidates this time.

As per the report, a total of 176 BJP candidates are crorepatis, while 167 crorepati candidates are from Congress. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded 36 candidates who are crorepatis, and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) 36 candidates are crorepatis. According to the ADR report, the average assets of the candidates are Rs 3.12 crore, compared to Rs 2.12 crore in the 2018 assembly elections.

Congress' Rafiq Mandelia has property worth Rs 166.48 crore. After this, BJP candidate Prem Singh Bajaur has assets worth Rs 123.23 crore. Congress candidate Udaylal Anjana is in third place from Nimbahera. He has property worth Rs 122.94 crore. At the same time, there are eight candidates who do not own any property.

One should note that in the 2018 Rajasthan Assembly Elections, out of 2188 candidates, 597(27%) were crorepatis.
The top 3 candidates with the highest declared assets include Rafique Mandelia (BJP) total assets of 166+ Crore, Prem Singh Bajor (INC) (BJP) total assets of 123+ Crore, and Anjana Udayalal (INC) total assets of 122+ Crore

Party-wise Crorepati Candidates: Among the major parties 176(88%) out of 200 candidates analysed from BJP, 167(84%) out of 199 candidates analysed from INC, 36(20%) out of 185 candidates analysed from BSP, 29(34%) out of 86 candidates analysed from AAP, 36(46%) out of 78 candidates analysed from Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, 5(28%) out of 18 candidates analysed from CPI(M) and 1(6%) out of 17 candidates analysed from Bhartiya Tribal Party have declared assets valued more than Rs 1 crore.

Rajasthan polls: 40.27 pc turnout till 1.30 pm

Rajasthan recorded 40.27% polling for 199 assembly constituencies till 1.30 pm, the Election Commission said on Saturday.

Voting started at 7 am after days of hectic campaigning by main political parties, including the ruling Congress and BJP.