Richest candidates spent least
PUNJAB POLLS ADR report reveals Rana Gurjit spent only ₹8 lakh on electioneering, Sidhu also among lowspenders
CHANDIGARH : With assets of ₹170 crore, Congress leader Rana Gurjit Singh was the richest among all 1,145 candidates in the Punjab assembly polls held in February. And he appears to be a wise spender! Now the power minister, Gurjit spent only ₹ 8.36 lakh — 30% of the limit of ₹28 lakh set by the Election Commission of India — on his campaign. That is the least among all ministers.
This was revealed on Friday after data-gathering by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) from details submitted to the EC. No candidate met the upper limit.
The record of being the highest spender among all 117 candidates who became MLAs goes to Gurpreet Singh GP, a first-time legislator of the Congress from Bassi Pathana, at ₹26.89 lakh. He had declared assets of ₹45 lakh and his expenditure was 96% of the limit. In contrast, Harpartap Singh Ajnala, also of the Congress, had declared 10 times more assets than GP, at ₹4.3 core, but he spent the minimum among all winners — ₹4 lakh.
Among those who became minister, Charanjit Singh Channi spent the highest at ₹26.83 lakh, ₹6,000 less than what GP spent. He had declared assets of ₹14.47 crore. Next among ministers is Manpreet Singh Badal at ₹ 24.67 lakh, followed by Razia Sultana at ₹24.48 lakh. The low spenders among ministers are Aruna Chaudhary at ₹12.99 lakh, followed by Navjot Singh Sidhu at ₹14.52 lakh. Sidhu had declared assets of ₹45.91 crore.
Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh spent ₹15.17 lakh (54% of the limit); he had declared assets of ₹86.33 crore. Sadhu Singh Dharamsot spent ₹17.15 lakh (61%), Brahm Mohinda ₹16.74 lakh (60%) and Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa ₹14.65 lakh (52%).
Among parties whose candidates won, Bains brothers Simarjeet and Balwinder of the Lok Insaaf Party, an ally of Aam Aadmi Party, had the highest average at ₹20 lakh. Average expenditure of MLAs of all other parties — Congress, SAD and BJP — was close to ₹15 lakh.
The Badals — former CM Parkash Singh Badal and his son and deputy Sukhbir Singh Badal, and Bikram Singh Majithia — too spent relatively little, at ₹13.13 lakh (47%), ₹ 10.77 lakh (38%) and ₹12.62 lakh (45%), respectively.
CONTRAST IN AAP
Sukhpal Singh Khaira, who is now the AAP’s chief whip in the assembly, had declared the second highest assets (₹52.66 crore) among those eventually elected MLAs of his party. But he made the least expenditure (₹8.9 lakh) among them. Yet, he told HT, “I am sure what candidates declare is much less than what they actually spend. Imposing restrictions is just a farce because the EC is toothless. The electoral process needs radical cleansing.”
AAP’s Pirmal Singh Dhaula presents another contrast — he declared assets of ₹3 lakh, but spent ₹21.44 lakh on his campaign. Baljinder Kaur declared ₹3.65 lakh in assets but spent ₹11.99 lakh.
Aman Arora, who was on top among AAP’s eventual MLAs in terms of assets (₹65.88 crore) spent ₹14.98 lakh, while Kultar Singh, Baldev Singh, Jagdev Singh, Amarjit Singh and Rupinder Kaur Ruby all spent more than Arora. HS Phoolka, now leader of opposition in the Vidhan Sabha, tops the expenditure chart in AAP, at ₹22.69 lakh. He had declared assets of ₹10.85 crore. ADR founder-member Trilochan Sastry accepted that the actual expenditure is in crores which candidates admit in private. “The leaders should approach lawmakers in this regard so that they don’t have to fudge figures to stay within the expenditure cap,” he said.