Out of the 2,290 candidates, who are in the fray in 2023 Telangana Assembly polls, 580 have declared assets more than Rs 1 crore, with maximum 114 along from the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), a report revealed on Saturday.
The report also said that Congress’ Gaddam Vivekanand, who is contesting from Chennur (SC) Assembly seat is the richest candidate in Telangana with assets worth Rs 606.67 crore.
The report has been released by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Telangana Election Watch, which analysed the self-sworn affidavits of all 2,290 candidates.
“Out of the 2,290 candidates analysed, 580 are crorepatis,” it said, adding that in the 2018 Telangana Assembly Elections, out of 1,777 candidates, 438 were crorepatis.
It said that the role of money power in elections is evident from the fact that all major political parties give tickets to wealthy candidates.
“Among the major parties, 114 out of 119 candidates analysed from BRS, 111 out of 118 candidates analysed from Congress, 93 out of 111 candidates analysed from BJP are crorepatis,” it said.
Out of 30 out of 107 candidates analysed from the BSP, seven out of 19 candidates analysed from the CPI-M, 18 out of 41 candidates from the All India Forward Bloc, and eight out of nine candidates from All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) have declared assets valued more than Rs 1 crore.
The report said that in 2018 Assembly elections, the BRS had fielded 107 candidates with assets more than Rs 1 crore, while the Congress had fielded 79 out of 99 candidates, the BJP had fielded 86 out of 118 candidates, the BSP 26 out of 100 candidates, and the AIMIM five out of eight candidates.
It also stated that there are 270 candidates with assets more than Rs 5 crore, while 150 candidates have declared assets from Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore, 381 candidates have declared assets between Rs 50 lakh to Rs 2 crore, 539 candidates have declared assets between Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh, and 950 candidates have declared assets below Rs 10 lakh.
The average assets per candidate contesting in the Telangana Assembly Elections 2023 is Rs 4.71 crore, while in 2018 Telangana Assembly elections, average assets per candidate for 1,777 candidates was Rs 3.29 crore.
“The average assets per candidate for 119 BRS candidates analysed is Rs 25.62 crore, 118 Congress candidates is Rs 38 crore, 111 BJP candidates have average assets of Rs 16.15 crore, 107 BSP candidates have average assets of Rs 2.02 crore, 19 CPI-M candidates have average assets of Rs 1.01 crore, 41 All India Forward Bloc candidates have average assets of Rs 2.94 crore and nine AIMIM have average assets worth Rs 10.46 crore.”
Vivekanand, who is the richest candidate, had joined the Congress after quitting the BJP earlier this month.
Congress candidate Raj Gopal Reddy contesting from Munugode Komatireddy has declared assets to the tune of Rs 458.39 crore and Congress candidate Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy from Palair assembly seat has assets worth Rs 433.93 crore.
On the other hand, the report also highlighted that there are 25 candidates who have declared zero assets.
The report stated that All India Samata Party candidate Maddileti from Alampur (SC) Assembly seat, Bharatiya Chaitanya Yuvanjana Party candidate Mahendar Bhukaya from Dornakal (ST) seat and Bahujan Republican Socialist Party candidate Vanguri Jayashanker from Nagarkurnool Assembly seat have declared the lowest asset worth Rs 500.
BRS’s Bongir assembly seat candidate Pilla Shekar Reddy has declared liabilities worth Rs 112.75 crore, while its Armur candidate Ashannagari Jeevan Reddy has liabilities worth Rs 50.73 crore and Khairatabad candidate Danam Nagender has liabilities worth Rs 49.55 crore.
The report further said that 979 candidates have declared their educational qualifications to be between Class 5 and 12 while 1,143 candidates have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above and 53 candidates are Diploma holders.
The report also said that 26 candidates have declared themselves to be just literate and 89 candidates are Illiterates.
As many as 1,027 candidates have declared their age to be between 25 to 40 years while 1,062 candidates have declared their age to be between 41 to 60 years. There are 200 candidates who have declared their age to be between 61 to 80 years and one candidate has declared his age as 84 years old.
In the 2023 Assembly elections, 222 female candidates are contesting against 136 in 2018.