About 476 of the 1,710 candidates contesting the upcoming Phase 4 of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are crorepatis, a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the National Election Watch showed. This is approximately 28 percent of all candidates participating in the elections that will take place on May 13.
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the National Election Watch have conducted a detailed analysis of the financial backgrounds of candidates contesting phase 4 of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. This analysis, based on self-sworn statements of 1,710 of the 1,717 candidates, throws light on the distribution of wealth among candidates, the prevalence of crorepati candidates and other financial aspects.
There are a total of 1,717 candidates contesting the polls in phase 4, as announced by the Election Commission earlier this week. However, seven candidates could not be analyzed in the report because their documents and affidavits were not properly scanned at the time of the report. Here is a look at the financial backgrounds of candidates in Phase 4 Lok Sabha elections.
Financial background of candidates contesting Phase-4 LS polls 2024:
>12 percent of candidates have assets worth Rs 5 crore and above
>Eight percent have assets between Rs 2 crore and Rs 5 crore
>18 percent own assets ranging from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 2 crore
>25 percent own assets between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 50 lakh
>37 percent have assets of less than Rs 10 lakh
Crorepati candidates contesting phase 4 of LS polls 2024:
Of the 1,710 candidates, 476 (28 percent) are crorepatis. Fifty-one percent of candidates (871) declared liabilities in their filed affidavits
Party-wise crorepati candidates list for 2024 Phase 4 LS polls:
>Shiv Sena: All three candidates (100 percent)
>Biju Janata Dal (BJD): All four candidates (100 percent)
>Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD): All four candidates (100 percent)
>Shivsena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray): All four candidates (100 percent)
>Telugu Desam Party (TDP): All 17 candidates (100 percent)
>Bhartiya Rashtriya Congress (BRS): All 17 candidates (100 percent)
>Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP): 24 out of 25 candidates (96 percent)
>Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP): 65 out of 70 candidates (93 percent)
>Indian National Congress (INC or Congress): 56 out of 61 candidates (92 percent)
>All India Trinamool Congress (AITC or TMC): seven out of eight candidates (88 percent)
>All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM): Two out of three candidates (67 percent)
>Samajwadi Party (SP): 11 out of 19 candidates (58 percent)
Highest-income candidates participating in Phase 4 of the 2024 LS polls:
1. Shaik Basheed, Congress
Constituency: Rajampet, Andhra Pradesh
Income: Rs 28,63,66,000 from business
2. Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, BJP
Constituency: Chevella, Telangana
Income: Rs 4,65,48,830 from salary, rent, interest and dividend income
3. Dr. Gaddam Ranjith Reddy, Congress
Constituency: Chevella, Telangana
Income: Rs 4,92,63,730 from salary, real estate income, business income and other sources
The income will be based on the candidate’s Income Tax Return (ITR) for 2023-24.
It is important to note that some candidates may be exempted from filing ITR under Section 10 (26) of the IT Act 1961, especially members of Scheduled Tribes residing in specific areas of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland , Tripura or Ladakh. Jammu and Kashmir.
About 44 candidates have not submitted their PAN details.
Average assets per party list of candidates for 2024 Phase-4 LS polls:
Telugu Desam Party (TDP): Rs 416.42 crore (17 candidates)
BJP: Rs 101.77 crore (70 candidates)
Shiv Sena: Rs 54.49 crore (three candidates)
BRS: Rs 54.25 crore (17 candidates)
YSRCP: Rs 39 crore (25 candidates)
TMC: Rs 36 crore (8 candidates)
Congress: Rs 23.65 crore (61 candidates)
Shivsena (UBT): Rs 13.53 crore (four candidates)
SP: Rs 9.86 crore (19 candidates)
AIMIM: Rs 9.53 crore (three candidates)
RJD: Rs 8.23 crore (four candidates)
BJD: Rs 3.11 crore (four candidates)
The average wealth per candidate contesting phase 4 of the Lok Sabha elections is Rs 11.72 crore.
Highest Asset Candidates Contesting in Phase 4 LS Polls 2024:
1. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, TDP
Constituency: Guntur, Andhra Pradesh
Total asset value: Rs 5,705 crore.
2. Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, BJP
Constituency: Chevella, Telangana
Total asset value: Rs 4,568 crore.
3. Prabhakar Reddy Vemireddy, TDP
Constituency: Nellore, Andhra Pradesh
Total asset value: Rs 716 crore.
Twenty-four candidates declared zero assets.
In phase 4, 96 constituencies in 10 states and Union Territories (UT) will go to the polls. Counting of votes for all polls will take place on June 4. The states/UTs going to polls include Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.