The proportion of crorepati winners in the 16th Lok Sabha has gone up by a third, to 82 per cent, compared with 58 per cent the previous Lok Sabha.

In 2014, a total of 442 elected MPs out of 541 are crorepatis, against 300 in the 2009 elections.

Also, the average assets per MP in 2014 have gone up almost three-fold to ₹14.61 crore from ₹5.35 crore in the 15th Lok Sabha, says an analysis by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The ADR analysis shows that the richer a candidate, the higher the chances of winning.

Of course, many a time other reasons, political or local, may play a role in the final outcome, as seen in the case of Nandan Nilekani, who declared assets worth ₹7,700 crore and was by far the richest candidate in the recently concluded general elections, but lost.

That our electoral system is getting more skewed in favour of the wealthy is clear from the results of these elections, as the anaylsis of the affidavits of the MPs clearly establishes a close connect between asset position and winnability.

Out the 541 MPs, 414 (77 per cent) are among the top three with highest assets in their constituencies, 159 (29 per cent) winners have the highest declared assets in their constituency and 142 (26 per cent) winners have the second highest declared assets in their constituency.

Party-wise, the BJP, which has 281 winners this time, has average assets worth ₹11.59 crore, compared with the 44 Congress winners with ₹16.71 crore average assets.

The 37 AIADMK winners have average assets of ₹6.47 crore, while the Trinamool, which has MPs, has average assets worth ₹2.51 crore.