Nomination formalities have concluded for the Lok Sabha elections, with many unknown leaders disclosing huge fortunes in Karnataka.
The Congress with five and the JD(S) with four have the highest number of candidates among the top 10. The richest candidate, Nandan Nilekani, is valued at over Rs 7,710 crore and the last on the list, Ajaykumar Sarnaik, at over Rs 50 crore.
Surprisingly, the BJP candidates did not make the cut. As many as four candidates missed the top 10 list by a couple of crores.
BJP’s Suresh Angadi (Belgaum), Shivakumar Udasi (Haveri), P C Mohan (Bangalore Central) and P Muniraju (Bangalore Rural) have declared assets of over Rs 49 crore, but they fell shy by a whisker.
Former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, named in many corruption scandals, declared assets of nearly Rs 7 crore. The Aam Aadmi Party also made it to the list, with V Balakrishnan, former CFO of IT major Infosys, declaring assets around Rs190 crore. Bangalore South Congress candidate Nandan Nilekani emerged as the clear winner with over Rs 7,710 crore. Interestingly, his assets are all in the moveable category as he has only one site measuring 5,400 sq feet on 13th Main in Koramangala 3rd Block, valued at Rs 8.50 crore and ancestral land (outside Bangalore) worth a little over Rs 1 crore.
His wife Rohini Nilekani owns the 19,200 sq ft home on the same road. The couple have an annual income of over Rs168 crore, way higher than what a majority of candidates have declared as their total assets.
The biggest surprise comes in the form of R Prabhakar Reddy, the JD(S) candidate from Bangalore Rural, who values himself at over Rs 224 crore. The realtor has Rs 190 crore in moveable assets, while his immovable assets amounts to Rs 33 crore.