The four richest candidates in the upcoming Telangana polls are businesspersons holding over Rs 700 crore in assets cumulatively. The four, one each from the Congress, the BJP, the TDP and the TRS, have seen an increase in asset value since the last elections.
Here are the richest candidates contesting in the Telangana elections this time.
1. K Rajgopal Reddy (Congress)
With assets over Rs 300 crore, K Rajgopal Reddy of the Congress is the richest candidate to contest in next month’s Telangana Assembly elections.
Rajgopal, who is contesting from Munugode constituency in Nalgonda district, declared family assets of Rs 314 crore in the affidavit filed with the election authorities along with his nomination papers.
His net worth has gone up by 371% during last four years. The Congress leader, a businessman, had declared assets of Rs 66 crore while contesting the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. Rajgopal was a Lok Sabha MP from 2009 to 2014, and is currently a member of the Telangana Legislative Council.
According to his affidavit, Rajgopal said that his declared income for the financial year 2017-18 was Rs 34,83,550, while his spouse declared Rs 1,17,16,370. Both of them had close to Rs 30,000 in cash each. Rajgopal said that his total bank balance in four accounts was Rs 11,89,688, while his spouse had a bank balance of Rs 35,03,892 in two accounts.
While he declared an investment of Rs 10,000 in shares, his wife, K Laxmi, holds over Rs 258 crore in assets in Sushee Infra and Mining Ltd, where she is a director. According to the affidavit, the firm is executing projects in various states in the country.
As far as jewellery was concerned, Rajgopal owns 1,080 grams of gold worth 35 lakh, while his wife owns 3,996 grams of gold worth Rs 1,38,17,554, 20 kg of silver worth Rs 6,80,850 and 30 carats of diamonds worth Rs 50 lakh.
Rajgopal has declared that his total movable assets were Rs 5,01,56,328, while his wife declared Rs 261,84,64,626. Their immovable assets were worth Rs 19,54,30,850 and Rs 27,91,18,602.
2. Marri Janardhan Reddy (TRS)
Marri Janardhan Reddy of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is the second richest candidate for the December 7 elections. Seeking re-election from the Nagarkurnool constituency, he has declared family assets of Rs 161 crore, up from Rs 111 crore in the previous election.
Janardhan and wife Marri Jamuna Rani, both businesspersons, had over Rs 8 crore income during 2017-18, a drop of 22% in four years.
Janardhan declared an income of Rs 5,92,42,403, while his wife declared Rs 2,45,61,685.
As far his movable assets are concerned, he had Rs 4,92,914 in cash, while his spouse had Rs 3,06,581. He has a total bank balance of Rs 8,72,502, while his spouse has Rs 7,05,050. He has invested Rs 10,89,70,120 in shares, and his spouse held Rs 1,39,30,000. While he holds 235 grams of jewellery worth Rs 7,17,925, his spouse declared 1,912 grams gold worth Rs 58,41,160.
While he declared total movable assets worth Rs 7,53,897,659 and immovable assets worth Rs 2,27,649,362, his wife’s figures for the same are Rs 1,58,671,810 and Rs 4,72,507,337 respectively.
3. G Yoganand (BJP)
G Yoganand of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the third richest candidate in Telangana, with assets of Rs 146 crore. A realtor, Yoganand is contesting from the Serilingampally constituency, which is Hyderabad city outskirts.
His declared income for the latest financial year is Rs 1,82,53,744, while his spouse declared Rs 32,93,410. While he has Rs 5,23,400 cash in hand, his wife had Rs 24,200. Similarly, he had Rs 27,89,775 in the bank, while his wife had Rs 24,48,854. He and his wife also declared investments worth Rs 9,83,524,621 and Rs 59,505,750 respectively.
Yoganand owns 300 grams of gold worth Rs 8,70,000, and 4,000 grams of silver worth Rs 1,60,000, and his spouse owns 5780.05 grams of gold worth Rs 16,762,145 and 4,500 grams of silver worth Rs 1,80,000. Their immovable assets were worth Rs 89,174,900 and Rs 39,249,900.
4. Nama Nageswara Rao (TDP)
Nama Nageswara Rao of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), who is contesting from Khammam, is at fourth place with assets at Rs 113 crore. He was a Member of Parliament from 2009-2014, and was one of the richest MPs in the country at the time, and declared assets of Rs 338 crore in 2014 during the Lok Sabha elections.
Founder of the Madhucon Group of companies, Nageswara Rao is one of the leading entrepreneurs of Telangana. According to the latest affidavit, he and his wife Nama Chinnamma together received income of Rs 1.76 crore during 2017-18, as against over Rs 4 crore in 2012-13.
Nageswara declared income for the latest financial year was Rs 56,43,245, and his spouse declared Rs 1,11,23,376. He has Rs 2,11,000 in cash, and his spouse had Rs 15,000. Their bank account balances were Rs 16,53,227 and Rs 42,40,164. Nageswara declared investments worth Rs 1,53,899,812 and his wife said that she held shares worth Rs 97,378,715. While Nageswara Rao’s two sons hold Rs 2,89,85,215 and Rs 3,826,040 in shares respectively, his daughter does not hold any shares.
Nageswara said that his total movable assets were Rs 43,89,79,801, while his spouse declared Rs 25,71,07,880. His three dependents also declared assets worth Rs 2,91,04,733, Rs 38,58,210 and Rs 39,881. As far as their immovable assets were concerned, Nageswara declared assets worth Rs 9,80,17,230, his wife Rs 27,03,06,000, and his son held immovable assets worth Rs 2,85,61,000.
Others
P Shekhar Reddy of the TRS, who is seeking re-electing from the Bhongir constituency, declared assets of Rs 91 crore. His fortunes have gone up by 46% since 2014.
Another TRS candidate, Arekapudi Gandhi, also has assets of over Rs 50 crore. A candidate from Serilingampally, he has declared assets of Rs 62 crore.
The other rich candidates include former minister and Congress leader Ponnala Lakshmaiah (Rs 68 crore) and BJP’s AV Raghunath Rao (Rs 55 crore).
In the caretaker cabinet, Finance Minister Etela Rajender is the richest among the ministers, with Rs 42.41 crore in assets while Industries Minister KT Rama Rao, son of CM K Chandrashekhar Rao, comes a close second with Rs 41.82 crore in assets.
Chandrasekhar Rao is worth Rs 23.55 crore. He had assets of Rs 15.15 crore in 2014. The TRS chief and his son earn some of the highest agricultural incomes in the state.
Inputs from IANS and Balakrishna Ganeshan