Maharashtra polls: Two richest candidates belongs to BJP

Mumbai, Oct 3: BJP candidate Mohit Kamboj is the richest candidate in the fray for Maharashtra Assembly polls with assets worth Rs 353.53 crore.

According to the affidavit filed by him to the Maharashtra state Election Commission, Kamboj (30), who will contest the Dindoshi Vidhan Sabha constituency, has declared assets worth Rs 353.53 crore to the EC.

His affidavit states that he has cleared his first year of B.Com in 2003 and he has business interests in real estate and bullion.

The second richest candidate among the total 1,356 candidates in the state also belongs to the BJP. Party's Mangal Prabhat Lodha (58), who is seeking a re-election from the plush Malabar Hill constituency has declared assets worth Rs 198.61 crore. A law graduate, Lodha is a construction magnate.

Samajwadi Party Maharashtra Unit President Abu Azmi, who has been fielded from the Mankhurd constituency, has declared assets worth Rs 156.11 crore. The candidate with the least amount of assets declared to the EC is Kidappil Narayanan Keshav of the Communist Party of India (M).

Keshav (46), who will contest the Andheri (West) constituency of Mumbai, has declared assets worth Rs 15,934 to the EC. A social worker by profession, he is a secondary school passout from Kerala.

The second poorest candidate is gangster-turned- politician Arun Gawli's daughter Geeta Gawli, who has declared assets worth Rs 1.29 crore to the EC.

Geeta, a corporator in the BMC, has been fielded by the Akhil Bhartiya Sena. She is a Class X passout. Senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has declared assets worth Rs 13.82 crore, while NCP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has declared assets worth Rs 38.83 crore.

Another NCP leader and former state PWD Minister Chhagan Bhujbal has declared assets worth worth Rs 21.91 crore.

Maharashtra BJP state Unit President Devendra Fadnavis has declared assets worth Rs 1.97 crore to the state Election Commission.

PTI