In a landmark decision in 2002, the Supreme Court mandated the filing of affidavits disclosing assets, educational qualifications and criminal records for candidates running in Lok Sabha and assembly elections.
According to the Representation of the People Act of 1951, candidates who hide information in their nomination papers or affidavits may face consequences. The violation can result in a six-month prison sentence or a fine, emphasizing the importance of transparency and compliance with the law during the election process.
The Election Commission of India makes the affidavits publicly available.
Telugu Desam Party's Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani tops the list of wealthiest Lok Sabha candidates with assets worth ₹5,705 crore, the most among the 8,360 contesting the Lok Sabha 2024 elections. The BJP's Konda Vishweshwar Reddy follows closely behind with ₹4,568 crore, while another BJP candidate from South Goa has declared assets totaling ₹1,361 crore.
A list of other notable contenders and their assets -
Amit Shah (59) and his wife own assets totaling Rs 65.67 crore. Notably, this marks a significant increase from the Rs 30.49 crore reported during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, showing a growth of over 100% in the past five years. - ET
Asaduddin Owaisi - Nearly Rs 19 crore worth of assets, Rs 7 crore loan, two weapons and five pending legal cases were among the declarations made by All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi in his poll affidavit.
Jitendra Singh, Union Minister, has declared assets worth Rs 7.20 crore. His financial portfolio has seen a remarkable surge since 2014 when he became the MP for the first time and had declared assets of Rs 3 crore. Singh's income sources include pension, salary as a MP and minister, and interest from deposits. - Deccan Herald
N Chandrababu Naidu - Assets of former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu (74) and his family grew by over 41% in the past five years to Rs 810.42 crore, according to an affidavit filed with the Election Commission in April 2024.
Naidu's wife Bhuvaneswari owns the lion's share of the assets, as she holds 2.26 crore shares of Heritage Foods Ltd worth Rs 337.85 apiece (market value). The total value of the shareholding stands at nearly Rs 764 crore as against Rs 545.76 crore in 2019.
In 2019, Naidu’s family owned assets, both movable and immovable worth Rs 574.3 crore, as per the affidavit filed by the TDP chief for the last assembly polls. - Rediff
Naveen Patnaik - Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has declared assets valued at Rs 71.07 crore, up by over Rs 7 crore in the last five years, as mentioned in an affidavit filed by him in the Election Commission. The BJD chief had shown assets of Rs 63.87 crore in 2019. He has no liabilities and no criminal case against him.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, declared total assets worth ₹ 28 crore. Controversy over Mr Chandrasekhar's poll affidavit broke after it showed his income for FY 2021/22 was just ₹ 680. For FY20 and FY23, however, he declared incomes of ₹ 17.5 lakh and ₹ 5.50 lakh. - NDTV
Pawan Kalyan - Jana Sena chief and film star Pawan Kalyan, has declared in his election affidavit that his income during the past five financial years has been only ₹114 crore. The assets have doubled compared to 2019, the last time when he filed his election affidavit. - DC
Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, a cabinet minister from the ruling YSR Congress party, Ramachandra Reddy is contesting again from Punganur. He has declared total assets worth ₹235.4 crore for himself and wife G. Swarna Latha as of 2024. This marks a massive 79.72% jump from the ₹130.97 crore the couple had disclosed during the previous polls in 2019. - DC
Shashi Tharoor has declared assets of ₹ 55 crore. For 2022-23, he has declared his income as ₹4.32 crore. His total investments in mutual funds was at Rs 1.72 crore.
Sonia Gandhi (77) has total assets worth Rs 12.53 crore. Her sources of income are MP salary, Royalty income, Interest from Banks, Bonds, Dividend and Capital gain from mutual funds.
Smriti Irani - According to the affidavit filed, the total wealth of BJP leader and Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani's family is Rs 17.57 crore as of March 31, 2024. Her total investments in mutual funds stood at Rs 88.13 lakh.
Dr T. M. Thomas Isaac, the LDF candidate from Pathanamthitta, declared that his movable assets consisted primarily of a collection of 20,000 books, valued at ₹ 9.60 lakh.