TN polls- Richest candidate worth Rs 337 crore, Jayalalithaa is third on the list

Chennai, May 10: The richest candidate contesting the Tamil Nadu elections is worth Rs 337 crore. The candidate Vasanthakumar H contesting from the Naguneri constituency on an Indian National Congress ticket has declared movable assets worth Rs 1,56,81,55,917 and immovable assets worth Rs 1,80,45,30,790.

The Association for Democratic Reforms has analysed the self sworn affidavits of 997 candidates out of the 1,107 contesting from major parties. Out of the 997 there are 282 candidates with a criminal background.

Top 3 richest candidates:

Vasanthakumar H contesting from the Naguneri constituency on an Indian National Congress ticket has declared movable assets worth Rs 1,56,81,55,917 and immovable assets worth Rs 1,80,45,30,790.

Mohan M K contesting on a DMK ticket from the Anna Nagar constituency is worth Rs 170 crore. He has declared movable assets worth Rs 1,92,43,716 and immovable assets worth Rs 1,68,04,87,300.

Third on the list of richest candidates is Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa J with assets worth Rs 113 crore. Her movable assets are worth Rs 41,63,55,396 and immovable assets are worth Rs 72,09,83,190.

There are two candidates with no assets. They are Karuppan V and Villupuram of the BJP contesting from the Chengam and Tirukkoyilur constituencies respectively.

Candidates with criminal background:

Out of the 997 candidates analyzed, 283 (28%) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.

Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: 157 (16%) candidates have declared serious criminal cases including cases related to murder, attempt to murder, theft, crimes against women etc.

Candidates with cases related to murder: 5 candidates have declared charges related to Murder (Indian Penal Code Section-302).

Candidates with cases related to Attempt to Murder: 30 candidates have declared charges related to attempt to murder (Indian Penal Code Section-307).

Candidates with cases related to Crimes against Women: 8 candidates have declared cases related to Crimes against Women.

Party wise Candidates with Criminal Cases: 10 (27%) out of 37 candidates from INC, 26 (15%) out of 176 candidates from BJP, 47 (22%) out of 217 candidates from AIADMK, 68 (40%) out of 170 candidates fielded by DMK, 66 (31%) out of 211 candidates from PMK, 41 (42%) out of 98 from DMDK and 8 (47%) out of 17 CPI(M) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Party wise Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: 8 (22%) out of 37 candidates from INC, 15 (9%) out of 176 candidates from BJP, 26 (12%) out of 217 candidates from AIADMK, 41 (24%) out of 170 candidates fielded by DMK, 36 (17%) out of 211 candidates from PMK, 18 (18%) out of 98 from DMDK and 3 (18%) out of 17 CPI(M) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Red Alert Constituencies*: 28 constituencies in the Tamil Nadu assembly elections have 3 or more candidates from major parties with declared criminal cases. *Red Alert Constituencies are those which have 3 or more candidates with criminal cases contesting elections.

Financial background:

Party wise Crorepati Candidates: 32 (87%) out of 37 candidates from INC, 64 (36%) out of 176 candidates from BJP, 156 (72%) out of 217 candidates from AIADMK, 133 (78%) out of 170 candidates fielded by DMK, 72 (34%) out of 211 candidates from PMK and 57 (58%) out of 98 DMDK candidates have declared assets worth Rs 1 Crore and above in their affidavits.

Average assets: The average of assets of the 997 major party candidates analyzed in the Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections is Rs 4.35 Crores.

Party wise average assets: Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 37 INC candidates is Rs 16.88 Crores, 176 BJP candidates have average assets of Rs 2.08 Crores, 217 AIADMK candidates have average assets worth Rs 4.83 Crores, 170 DMK candidates have average assets worth Rs 8.19 Crores, 211 PMK candidates have average assets worth Rs 1.56 Crore, average assets of 98 DMDK candidates is Rs 2.80 Crores, 23 MDMK candidates have average assets of Rs 4.27 Crores and 14 Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) candidates have average assets of Rs. 9.58 Crores.