The report, based on affidavits filed by 226 of the 233 sitting Rajya Sabha members, found that their combined assets are worth Rs 26,047 crore.
Members of Parliament from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana account for nearly 40% of the the total assets declared by sitting Rajya Sabha MPs, according to a report released by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The poll rights body report, based on affidavits filed by 226 of the 233 sitting Rajya Sabha members, found that their combined assets are worth Rs 26,047 crore. Of this, 18 MPs from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh together account for ₹10,259 crore, or 39.39% of the total wealth.
Seven MPs from Telangana alone declared assets worth Rs 8,310 crore, while 11 from Andhra Pradesh reported assets worth Rs 1,949 crore.
31 MPs Are Billionaires
The ADR report identified 31 Rajya Sabha MPs with assets exceeding Rs 100 crore (billionaire). These include seven from BJP, six from Congress, two each Telugu Desam Party, YSR Congress Party and Bharath Rashtra Samiti (BRS), and one from Jana Sena Party, all from Telugu-speaking states. The combined assets of BJP MPs stand at Rs 8,181 crore, while Congress MPs have declared assets worth Rs 3,781 crore. Four Independent MPs together hold assets worth Rs 2,211 crore.
Wealthiest MPs
Among the wealthiest members of the upper House is Bandi Parthasaradhi Reddy of BRS from Telangana, who tops the list with declared assets of Rs 5,300 crore. He is followed by BJP's Rajendra Gehlot Gupta of Punjab with Rs 5,053 crore and Congress MP and Supreme court senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi with assets worth Rs 2,558 crore.
31% MPs Face Criminal Cases
The ADR report also found that 69 Rajya Sabha MPs (31%) have declared criminal cases against them, while 36 members (16%) face serious criminal charges. One MP has declared a murder case, while four face attempt-to-murder charges. Four MPs have cases related to crimes against women.
Among party-wise figures, 28 of the ruling BJP's 107 MPs have criminal cases, including 14 with serious charges. In the Congress, 12 of 29 MPs have criminal cases, with eight facing serious charges.
Telangana recorded the highest proportion of MPs with criminal cases. Five of the state's seven Rajya Sabha members (71%) have declared criminal cases, while three face serious charges. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala and West Bengal follow Telangana in this category.
Women Under-Represented
Women account for only 15% of the Rajya Sabha's strength. Of the 34 women members, 20 belong to BJP, five to Congress and four to the All India Trinamool Congres (TMC). The report also noted that Andhra Pradesh's Bhashyam Ramakrishna of TDP is among the MPs with the highest liabilities, having declared assets worth Rs 672 crore and liabilities of Rs 200 crore.