12 mayors in UP are crorepatis: ADR report

LUCKNOW: At least 12 out of 16 newly-elected mayors of Uttar Pradesh are crorepatis, according to the figures released by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR).

Only three mayors belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are not crorepatis but their assets run into lakhs of rupees.

With assets worth whopping ₹409 crore, Agra mayor Naveen Jain is the richest while Firzoabad mayor Nutan Rathore is the poorest at ₹11.90 lakh.

Other crorepati mayors include Abhilasha Gupta (Allahabad; ₹58 crore), Sanyukta Bhatia (Lucknow; ₹8 crore), Sitaram Jaiswal (Gorakhpur; ₹8 crore), Mohd Furqan (Aligarh, ₹7

› They have the potential to call the shots as they have the money power SANJAY SINGH , ADR coordinator

crore). Those with assets in lakhs include Mathura mayor Mukesh (₹16.88 lakh) and Varanasi mayor Mridula (₹ 99.82 lakh).

ADR coordinator Sanjay Singh said the conclusion of the analysis showed that politics was going out of the reach of the common man as most of the winners were crorepatis. “They have the potential to call the shots as they have the money power,” he said.

Singh said the Ghaziabad seat was not analysed as the affidavit of its mayor Asha Sharma was not available.

According to the information collected from the affidavits of candidates, 27% have disclosed criminal cases against them. At least 4 out of 15 mayors analysed by ADR have mentioned criminal cases against them.

“Naveen Jain of Agra has four cases against him while Allahabad mayor Abhilasha Gupta has two cases against her. Kanpur mayor Pramila Pandey and Ayodhya mayor Rishikesh have once case each pending against them,” the report said.

Out of 15 mayors analysed by ADR, one is just class 10 pass, two are class 12 pass, five are graduates while six are post-graduates. Bareilly mayor Umesh Gautam holds a PhD.