As the BJP-led Mahayuti in Maharashtra and the JMM-led INDIA bloc return to power in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, respectively, the new Assemblies are older and significantly wealthier. While Maharashtra has also seen an uptick in the number of MLAs facing pending criminal cases, Jharkhand has notably elected a record high number of women legislators.

Here is a look at the composition of the new 288-member and 81-member Houses in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, respectively, based on data from the Election Commission and the Association for Democratic Reforms.

Maharashtra

The incumbent Mahayuti recorded a landslide win in Maharashtra, removing any lingering doubts over the impact of its poor Lok Sabha showing in the state just months ago. In the Mahayuti, the BJP led with wins in 132 seats, followed by the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena at 57 and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP at 41, with minor allies winning four more seats for an alliance total of 234. For the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) won the most seats at 20, followed by the Congress at 16 and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP(SP) at 10, with other allies winning three seats and putting the alliance total at 49.

With an average age of 54, the new Assembly is older than the one elected in 2019 that had an average age of 51. The average age of the Maharashtra Assembly has increased considerably in recent years – in 2009, it was 49 years. A factor contributing to this increase is the number of re-elected members – this year, 183 sitting MLAs won their elections.

While as many as 86 MLAs are 60 or older, the oldest member is the 77-year-old Chhagan Bhujbal, a Cabinet minister and senior NCP leader, elected from Yevla.

Only 10 newly elected Maharashtra MLAs are aged 35 or younger – the youngest is the Congress Tasgaon-Kavathe Mahankal MLA, 25-year-old Rohit Patil, who is the son of former Deputy CM R R Patil, now deceased.

The new House is also significantly wealthier – from average assets of Rs 22.43 crore in 2019 to Rs 43.43 crore now. The BJP MLAs are the richest, with average assets worth Rs 59.69 crore, up from Rs 27.47 crore in 2019. The Congress MLAs’ average assets grew to Rs 43.91 crore from Rs 24.46 crore in 2019. In 2019, the undivided Shiv Sena and NCP had average assets of Rs 13.74 crore and Rs 15.02 crore, respectively. Now, while the Shiv Sena and NCP are at Rs 30.62 crore and Rs 22.33 crore, the NCP(SP) is at Rs 51.31 crore and the Sena (UBT) is at Rs 10.43 crore.

The richest Maharashtra MLA is the BJP’s Parag Shah, elected from Ghatkopar East, who has assets worth Rs 3,383 crore. A real estate developer and now two-time MLA, Shah has said his assets had grown by Rs 500 crore, owing to investments, over the course of the election campaign alone.

Of the 288 MLAs, 277 are crorepatis compared to 264 in the previous House. While all NCP MLAs are crorepatis, just one Shiv Sena and three BJP MLAs are not. In the MVA too, just six MLAs are not crorepatis.

The new Assembly also has more MLAs facing criminal cases, 187, compared to 176 in 2019. The BJP has the most such MLAs at 92, followed by the Shiv Sena at 38, the NCP at 20, the Sena (UBT) at 13, the Congress at nine, and the NCP(SP) at five. NCP chief and eight-time Baramati MLA Ajit Pawar faces the most pending cases at 40.

In terms of education qualifications, there are more graduates in the new House, up to 165 from 157 in the previous Assembly. Agriculture is the most common profession in the Assembly, declared by 64% of the MLAs, followed by business at 55%, and politics or social work at 27%.

After electing a record high number of women to the Assembly in 2019 at 24, the Maharashtra Assembly is seeing a marginal decline to 22. Women account for almost 8% of the House strength.

Jharkhand

With 56 seats in the 81-member House, the JMM-led INDIA bloc returned to power with a bigger mandate than in 2019, when it had won 48 seats. The JMM won 34 seats, followed by the Congress at 16, the RJD at four and the CPI(ML)L at one. On the Opposition front, the BJP won 21 seats, with allies AJSUP, JD(U) and LJP(RV) winning one seat each. New entrant Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha (JKLM) won one seat.

With 12 women, the state has elected its highest number of women legislators. The previous high was in 2019, when 10 women MLAs were elected. Since the state was carved out of Bihar in 2000, the number of women MLAs has been rising but their share in the total Assembly membership remains low – this year they account for 15% of the House strength. The Congress has the most women legislators at five, followed by the BJP at four and the JMM at three.

In Jharkhand too, the new Assembly is older, up to 53 years from 50 in 2019, with as many as 42 MLAs getting re-elected. While there are 17 MLAs aged 60 or older, only four are under 35.

The oldest MLA is 77-year-old Rameshwar Oraon, a Cabinet minister elected from the ST-reserved Lohardaga on a Congress ticket. The youngest MLA is JLKM founder and chief Jairam “Tiger” Mahato, a 29-year-old who won his debut election from Dumri.

The new Assembly is also much wealthier, with average assets rising from Rs 3.87 crore in 2019 to Rs 6.9 crore now. The BJP MLAs are the richest on average, with assets worth Rs 7.57 crore, followed by the JMM at Rs 6.28 crore and the Congress at Rs 5.31 crore. The Congress’s Rameshwar Oraon is the richest MLA, with assets worth Rs 42.2 crore.

The number of crorepati MLAs has shot up considerably, from 56 in 2019 to 71 now. Among the three major parties in the JMM, BJP and Congress, all but nine MLAs are crorepatis.

The number of MLAs facing criminal cases, though, is marginally down from 44 in 2019 to 43 this time. The BJP has the most such MLAs at 13, followed by the JMM at 12 and the Congress at eight. All of the RJD’s and CPI(ML)L’s MLAs are facing pending cases. Former CM and state BJP chief Babulal Marandi, elected from Dhanwar, has the most cases at 15, followed by the JLKM’s Jairam Mahato at 14.

The number of graduates has increased slightly to 50 from 49 in 2019. At 70% of all MLAs, politics and social work remain the most common professions in the House, followed by business at 37% and agriculture at 31%.

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