Several major candidates, including former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and his grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy, filed their nominations for the Lok Sabha polls on Monday.
Mr. Gowda, a six-time MP who is contesting for the first time from Tumakuru constituency, has declared a personal wealth of just ₹27.7 lakh, while his wife has assets worth ₹4.23 crore in her name. The 86-year-old has reported a 63% decline in personal wealth since the 2014 elections, when he contested (and won) from Hassan.
He has shown a regular income of ₹6.38 lakh and has no liabilities. Interestingly, the liabilities for his wife, Chennamma, include a loan of ₹67 lakh to Mr. Deve Gowda and another of ₹1 lakh to Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.
His grandson, Nikhil Kumaraswamy, 31, who has acted in a few Kannada films and is now contesting from Mandya LS segment, has declared movable assets of ₹17.53 crore and immovable assets worth ₹56.47 crore, including two houses and a commercial property in the heart of Bengaluru. Furthermore, inheriting a passion for cars from his father, he has given an advance of ₹4.15 crore for a high-end automobile.
Mr. Nikhil has shown a complex series of loans and advances within the family. He has taken a loan of ₹13.93 crore from his mother, Anitha Kumaraswamy, who is MLA for Ramanagaram, and ₹9.18 lakh from his father. However, he has also given ₹1.10 crore to his father and ₹1.75 crore to Kasturi Media Pvt. Ltd., which is owned by his mother.
Assets of others
K.H. Muniyappa, seven-time MP from Kolar and former Union Minister, has shown assets of ₹9.46 crore, while his wife has ₹17.56 crore in assets in her name. This is a 60% increase in the couple’s assets since 2014.
The former Chief Minister M. Veerappa Moily, who is standing for the third time from Chickballapur, also filed his nomination on Monday.
Rizwan Arshad, the 39-year-old Congress leader who will be trying his hand again in the Lok Sabha polls from Bengaluru Central, has shown a personal wealth of ₹15.07 crore. This is an increase of 600% from 2014, when he contested unsuccessfully.
Three-time MP, former Chief Minister and Union Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda also filed his nomination, for his current seat (Bengaluru North), on Monday. He has declared assets worth ₹18.15 crore. This is more than double the ₹8.1 crore of movable and immovable assets he had declared in 2014. His liabilities have increased nearly three-fold, from ₹3.7 crore to ₹10.34 crore.
In Hassan, A. Manju, who hopped from the Congress to the BJP and is the latter’s candidate, has declared a personal wealth of ₹12.49 crore. His wife has movable and immovable properties worth ₹10.66 crore against their name. The lawyer by profession, however, has also declared a taxable income of ₹12.04 crore.
COMMents
SHARE