The old adage of the rich becoming richer is reconfirmed every time one looks at the list of candidates in the electoral fray and finds an ever-growing number of millionaires, irrespective of which party they belong to.
Telangana might have the image of an underdeveloped and poverty-stricken region but the list of candidates belies this. The choice of candidates of all the major parties has sent a clear message that ordinary mortals who don’t have deep pockets can’t afford to fight an electoral battle and essentially politics has become a rich man’s game.
According to the affidavits filed by the candidates before the Election Commission, eight candidates of major parties have assets of more than Rs100 crores. There were at least 50 candidates whose assets were above Rs10 crores and 120 candidates with assets ranging from Rs5 crores to Rs10 crores. Another 155 candidates had assets between Rs1 crore to Rs5 crores .
All the parties, right from Telangana Rashtra Samithi, TDP, Congress and BJP can boast of having millionaires in their lists.
This time, the richest candidate in Telangana is Konda Vishweshwara Reddy, an industrialist who is contesting as a TRS candidate from Chevella lok Sabha constituency adjoining Hyderabad. Reddy, whose wife Sangeeta is the managing director of Apollo Hospital, is the grandson of former Deputy Chief Minister Ranga Reddy and has declared assets of Rs528 crores. Nama Nageswara Rao, sitting Telugu Desam MP and candidate from Khammam lok Sabha constituency comes second with declared asset of Rs300 crores. He too is an industrialist and businessman with big stakes in the construction sector.
The third big name is G Vivek, sitting Congress MP and candidate from Peddapalli in Karimnagar district. An industrialist, Vivek has declared assets of Rs266 crores and he is the richest candidate in his district. His brother and another industrialist G Vinod is the richest candidate in Adilabad district where he was contesting from Chennur Assembly constituency. He has assets of Rs186 crores.
BJP’s Narendranath, who is contesting from Medak lok Sabha constituency has also declared assets of Rs176 crores. TC Reddy, Telugu Desam candidate from Nalgonda has assets of Rs125 crores followed by Congress candidate from Bhongir, Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy with Rs118 crores.
YSR Congress party’s Suryanarayana Reddy has declared assets of Rs109 crores. He is the party’s candidate from Malkajgiri lok Sabha constituency. As far as key political personalities were concerned, Telangana Congress president Ponnala lakshmaiah, who is a businessman too, has assets of Rs20 crores. He was contesting from Janagam Assembly constituency in Warangal district.
The total assets of TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao’s family were Rs20.79 crores. This includes KCR’s own assets of Rs15 crores. The remaining belong to his son K Taraka Rama Rao and daughter K Kavita. KTR is contesting from Sricilla Assembly constituency and Kavita is contesting from Nizamabad lok Sabha constituency. KCR has said in his affidavit that he does not have a car.
At the other end of the spectrum are the candidates, mostly from the left parties and new entrant Aam Aadmi Party who have declared very little assets. Shahnaz, AAP candidate from Yakutpura Assembly constituency in Hyderabad has declared assets of only Rs20,000 and CPI(M) candidate from Malkajgiri Narasingh Rao has declared assets of Rs20,098 only.
Interestingly, Nandi Yellaiah, Congress MP and candidate from Nagarkurnool lok Sabha constituency has said that he has never filed any Income-Tax returns and does not have any permanent account number with the IT Department because he does not have any taxable income. He has immovable assets of Rs50 lakhs and movable assets of Rs2.48 lakhs.