new delhi around 368 candidates contesting the municipal elections are crorepatis with assets over rs 2 crore said ngo association of democratic reforms adr on saturday of the 1336 candidates contesting the municipal corporation of delhi elections whose financial status was studied by adr 151 reported wealth of over rs 5 crore and 217 assets of rs 2 crore and upto rs 5 crorethe role of money power in our elections is evident from the fact that all major political parties give tickets to wealthy candidates the report said adding that 249 bharatiya janata party candidates had average assets of rs 4 crore 248 aam aadmi party candidates had average assets of rs 37 crore and 245 congress candidates of rs 19 crorein total 556 or 42 of the candidates are crorepatis with wealth of rs 1 crore and above in the 2017 mcd elections only 697 of 2315 candidates or 30 were crorepatis among the parties those with declared assets more than rs 1 crore were 162 candidates or 65 of 249 candidates from bjp 148 60 of 248 from aap and 107 44 of 245 from congress the average assets per candidate contesting in this election is rs 23 crore up from rs 16 crore in 2017though having a property of rs 1 crore in delhi is not a big deal given that a flat can cost this much but the 12 increase in the number of crorepatis than in the 2017 elections shows that money plays a crucial role in getting tickets claimed professor jagdeep chhokar founder member and trustee adrthe top three wealthiest contestants are ram dev sharma ballimaran bjp with rs 669 crore in his affidavit nandini sharma malviya nagar bjp with rs 498 crore and jitender bansala karawal nagar west aap with rs 482 croresharma a businessman said that he wanted to give back to society i have worked very hard all my life to give my family the best now i want to work with the same dedication for people in this ward he saidmeanwhile of the contestants 60 are unread 22 just know how to sign their names but 752 candidates passed vxii classes and 487 are graduates further 693 or 52 of the candidates analysed are female compared with 1127 or 49 in 2017in addition of the 1336 candidates analysed 139 10 have declared criminal cases against themselves as opposed to 173 7 of the 2315 who did so in 2017 we also found that 76 candidates 6 have declared serious criminal cases against themselves this number was 116 in 2017 said professor chhokar the report is analysed on the basis of details filed in their affidavits by the candidates as per the supreme court guidelines the details will help people make a better decision about the candidates they will voter for on december 4