ERODE: With total assets worth Rs 653 crore, the AIADMK’s candidate for the Erode parliamentary constituency, Aatral Ashok Kumar, is the richest contestant in the fray in Tamil Nadu so far. While his wife, Karunambika, has assets worth Rs 70 crore, the 54-year-old has declared assets worth Rs 583 crore in the affidavit filed along with his nomination papers on Monday.
The native of Pudupalayam village in Kodumudi in Erode stated that his movable assets are worth Rs 526.53 crore while those of his wife are worth Rs 47.38 crore. He declared immovable assets worth Rs 56.95 crore while his wife has immovable assets worth Rs 22.60 crore. The couple does not own any motor vehicles. While he has Rs 10 lakh in hand, his spouse has Rs 5 lakh. He declared that he owns 10.1kg of gold worth Rs 5 crore and his wife has 10.6kg of gold worth Rs 5.50 crore. He also has a Rs 12 lakh home loan from a private bank.
Most of the couple’s immovable properties are in Coimbatore, Erode, Kangeyam, Kumarapalayam, Dharapuram and Dindigul. Most of his movable assets are in the form of fixed deposits and savings, investments in debentures, shares and mutual funds. His source of income is business and salary. His spouse, an architect, receives rent and salary. Ashok Kumar is the founder and director of The Indian Public School and the Aatral Foundation.
100 crore club members
BJP candidate AC Shanmugam declares assets worth Rs 150 crore
Ashok Kumar completed an engineering degree in Coimbatore, followed by an MS and MBA in the USA. He worked in multinational companies from 1992 to 2005.
His father KR Arumugam is a retired professor. His mother is KS Soundaram is a former Tiruchengode MP from AIADMK. Ashok Kumar’s mother-in-law CK Saraswathi is BJP’s MLA from Modakurichi constituency.
The next richest candidate, going by affidavits submitted so far, is the BJP’s Sivaganga candidate Dhevanathan Yadav who declared assets worth 304.92 crore. Of this, he, his wife, and two daughters have movable assets worth Rs 149.27 crore, Rs 25 crore, Rs 39.6 crore and Rs 39.6 crore each. He, his wife and daughters have immovable assets worth Rs 37.30 crore, Rs 12.9 crore, and Rs 50 lakh each. Yadav is the managing director of television channel Win TV
Founder of the New Justice Party, AC Shanmugam, representing the BJP in the Vellore Lok Sabha constituency, has declared movable and immovable assets worth over Rs 150 crore. He is also the founder of Rajarajeswari Group of Institutions, and ACS group of institutions.
Shanmugam and his wife Lalitha Lakshmi possess combined assets valued at a staggering Rs 152.77 crore. In terms of movable property, Shanmugam’s assets stand at Rs 36.48 crore while wife’s holdings amount to Rs 37.41 crore.