Erode AIADMK candidate likely to be richest in LS fray

COIMBATORE: AIADMK candidate from Erode ‘Aatral’ Ashok Kumar emerged as one of the richest candidate to contest in the Lok Sabha polls from Tamil Nadu.

In his affidavit filed before the Election Commission on Monday, Ashok Kumar declared net assets worth Rs 583.48 crore. His movable assets are worth Rs 526.53 crore, while that of his wife Karunambika is worth Rs 47.38 crore. And his immovable assets are worth Rs 56.95 crore and his wife is 22.60 crore.

Ashok Kumar declared having Rs 10 lakhs in cash while his wife has Rs five lakhs. He also declared Rs 12 lakh as liability acquired through house loan. According to his affidavit, the candidate possesses 10.1 kg gold worth Rs five crore and his wife has 10.6 kg of gold worth Rs 5.50 crore.

Ashok Kumar had filed Income Tax returns for Rs 1.09 crore for 2022-23 and his wife filed returns for Rs 1.03 crore. His earnings were through business and his wife gets rental income as well as salary.

A resident of Pudupalayam village in Kodumudi in Erode, Ashok Kumar runs a chain of education institutions and is known for his philanthropic works. Ashok Kumar’s mother KS Soundaram is a former MP from Tiruchengodu constituency and his mother in law C Swaraswati is a sitting BJP MLA from Modakurichi constituency. He was also in BJP before switching loyalty to AIADMK last year.

An engineering graduate from Coimbatore, Ashok Kumar completed Master’s from University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA and obtained MBA from University of Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. He worked in multinational companies before returning to India.