Several multimillionaires are in the fray for simultaneous elections to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and Lok Sabha with Telugu Desam Party (TDP) candidate from Guntur Lok Sabha constituency, Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar leading the list.
With family assets of more than Rs.5,705 crore, the NRI medical professional may be the richest candidate in the country.
Founder and CEO of ‘UWorld’, he is making his electoral debut in the May 13 election.
Hailing from Burripalem village of Guntur district, Chandra Sekhar did MBBS from Osmania Medical College in Hyderabad in 1999. Later, he moved to the US and completed post-graduation.
The 48-year-old has done M.D. in internal medicine at Geisinger Medical Centre in Danville, Pennsylvania. He served as a faculty at Johns Hopkins University and practices as a physician.
Andhra Pradesh is heading for simultaneous elections to the 175-member Assembly and all 25 Lok Sabha seats. The list of wealthy candidates has only gone up.
The majority of the rich candidates are from the main opposition TDP. The list includes industrialists, businessmen and actors.
TDP president and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who is seeking re-election from Kuppam Assembly constituency in Chittoor district, has declared his family assets at Rs 931.83 crore. His wife Bhuvaneshwari accounts for the lion’s share of this property – Rs. 895.47 crore.
The couple’s assets grew by 39 per cent in the last five years. Their assets were valued at Rs 668 crore in 2019.
The 74-year-old, who served as chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh and residuary Andhra Pradesh for 14 years, is once again aspiring to occupy the top post.
Chandrababu Naidu’s son and TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh has declared family assets of Rs 542 crore. His assets have gone up by 45 per cent in five years.
After unsuccessfully contesting for Assembly from Mangalagiri constituency, he is again testing his electoral fortunes from the same segment.
Chandrababu Naidu’s brother-in-law and Tollywood actor N. Balakrishna has declared family assets of about Rs 483 crore. His assets grew by 67 per cent since 2019.
Balakrishna, son of TDP founder and former chief minister N. T. Rama Rao, is seeking re-election for Assembly from Hindupur for a third consecutive term.
The 63-year-old is also father-in-law of Naidu’s son and TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh.
TDP leader P. Narayana, who is contesting for Assembly from Nellore City, owns family assets of Rs. 824.05 crore. The former minister is the founder of Narayana group, which has educational institutions in both the Telugu states. He had declared family assets of Rs 669 crore in 2019.
Jana Sena Party candidate for Nellimarla assembly constituency in Vizianagaram district Lokam Naga Madhavi has declared family assets worth Rs. 898.73 crore. Most of the assets are in the name of her husband V. N. V. Prasad. Both are entrepreneurs.
Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is one of the richest candidates with declared family assets of 757.65 crore.
The YSR Congress Party chief’s family assets grew by more than 48 per cent in the last five years. In 2019, he had declared family assets of Rs 510.35 crore.
Jagan Mohan Reddy’s own assets increased from Rs 375 crore in 2019 to Rs 529.87 crore while that of his wife Bharti Reddy mounted to Rs 176.30 crore from Rs 124 crore five years ago.
Jagan Mohan Reddy’s sister and Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president Y. S. Sharmila Reddy and her husband own assets of Rs 181.79 crore.
TDP’s Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy, who is contesting for Lok Sabha from Nellore, has declared family assets of Rs 716.31 crore.
Jana Sena leader and Tollywood actor politician Konidala Pawan Kalyan has family assets of Rs 164.52 crore, up by over 215 per cent during the last five years.
Pawan Kalyan, who filed his nomination from Pithapuram constituency in Kakinada district, had assets worth over Rs 52 crore in 2019.
He has declared assets in his name and the name of his wife Konidala Anna (formerly known as Anna Lezhneva) and four dependent children.
Pawan Kalyan had made an unsuccessful electoral debut in 2019. He had lost both Assembly seats he contested.
TDP candidate from Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha Sribharat Mathukumili, has declared assets of Rs 296 crore. He is the son-in-law of Balakrishna and co-brother of Lokesj. He had narrowly lost to MVV Satyanarayana of YSRCP in 2019.
TDP candidate from Undi Assembly seat Raghu Rama krishna Raju has assets of Rs 2,21.9 crore.
State minister and YSRCP candidate from Punganur Assembly constituency Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy is estimated to be worth Rs 235.39 crore. His son and YSRCP candidate from Rajampet Lok Sabha seat, P. V. Midhun Reddy, has assets of Rs 211.33.
YSRCP’s Mekapati Vikram Reddy, contesting from Atmakur Assembly seat, has assets worth Rs 209.22 crore.
TDP’s Vasanta Venkata Krishna Prasad (Mylavaram Assembly constituency) owns assets of Rs 188 crore.
Asmith Reddy in TDP’s MLA candidate from Tadipatri constituency, has family assets of Rs 185.3 crore.
YSRCP candidate from Yemmiganur Assembly constituency, Butta Renuka, declared family assets of Rs 161.21 crore.
YSRCP’s Simhadri Chandra Sekhar Rao, contesting for Lok Sabha from Machilipatnam, has assets worth Rs 138.41 crore.
Narendra Verma, the TDP candidate from Bapatla Assembly constituency is worth Rs 109.47 crore.
BJP’s Vishnu Kumar Raju, who is contesting from Visakhapatnam North Assembly constituency has declared assets of Rs 106.22 crore.