Contest of crorepatis: Dravidian majors’ list reveals cash, assets

For the first time, both the AIADMK and DMK, which are contesting in 20 Lok Sabha constituencies each, have nominated only candidates who own crores of rupees in cash and kind, data obtained from Election Commission has revealed.

In the DMK-led alliance, out of the 39 candidates, 35 have declared assets worth more than one crore rupees. Congress which is contesting for nine seats in the DMK alliance has nominated eight crorepatis.

As far as the AIADMK-led alliance is concerned, 36 candidates, including all the five from BJP, have declared moveable and immovable assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.

Congress party takes the credit of nominating the richest candidate in the Lok Sabha poll in the State for the second time. Kannniyakumari candidate H Vasanthakumar tops richest candidate list with an asset of Rs 417.49 crore. His asset has gone up by 46 per cent from Rs 285.77 crore declared in 2014. He also has the highest liability of Rs 154 crore. Second richest candidate in the two major alliances are AC Shanmugham of New Justice Party, a constituent of AIADMK-led alliance, declared assets worth Rs 125 crore.

Poorest candidate in terms of assets is CPI(M)’s Madurai candidate Su Venkatesan, who is a Sahitya Akademi award winner. He has declared assets worth Rs 18.11 lakh. Second lowest asset holder is PMK’s Vadivel Ravanan. Contesting from Villupuram, he has Rs 19.25 lakh.

The number of crorepati candidates nominated by major political parties in the Lok Sabha polls has gone in this election compared to the 2014 LS polls. As per the affidavit filed by the candidates, 74 per cent of the candidates fielded by DMK, AIADMK, Congress and DMDK were crorepatis in the 2014 election when compared to 55 per cent in the 2009 polls.

Poorest candidate in terms of assets in DMK is S Ramalingam (Mayiladuthurai) whose asset is valued at Rs 1.33 crore while the richest DMK candidate is former Union Minister of State S Jagathrakshakan (Arakkonam) with Rs 114.69 crore. In AIADMK, the richest candidate is C Mahendran, who has assets worth Rs 31.34 crore. Meanwhile, BJP’s Nainar Nagendran has declared assets worth Rs 102 crore.