New Delhi: The chasm between the rich and the poor in the country has apparently reflected among the candidates running for Lok Sabha as well, according to a report by NDTV.
The declared asset of the richest candidate in the first phase of polls today is an eye-popping ₹ 716 crore, while the poorest candidate’s net worth is just Rs 320.
After analyzing1,618 of the 1,625 candidates in the first phase, the Association for Democratic Reforms found 450 candidates, or 28% of the total, as crorepatis with assets worth over ₹ 1 crore. And interestingly, 10 of those in the analysed list have declared their assets to be zero.
Nakul Nath of the Congress, sitting MP for Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh, is the richest with declared assets worth ₹ 716 crore.
The son of former chief minister Kamal Nath, Nath was the only Congress candidate to win in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Ashok Kumar of the AIADMK, contesting for Erode in Tamil Nadu, is the second on the list with declared ₹ 662 crore.
Dhevanathan Yadav of the BJP, contesting for Tamil Nadu's Sivaganga constituency, is the third with assets worth ₹ 304 crore.
Karti Chidambaram of the Congress, sitting MP at Sivaganga, is tenth on the list, with a net worth of ₹ 96 crore.
Mala Rajya Lakshmi Shah of the BJP, trying luck in Uttarakhand's Tehri Garhwal, is fourth with ₹ 206 crore.
The BSP's Majid Ali, contesting for Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur, is the next on the list with net worth of ₹ 159 crore.
Alongside those with zero assets, Ponraj K, an Independent candidate from Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi declared his assets as ₹ 320.
Other independent candidates richer than Ponraj K are Kartik Gendlaji Doke and Suriyamuthu with declared assets of ₹ 500; they are contesting for Maharashtra's Ramtek constituency and Tamil Nadu's Chennai North constituency respectively.