Kanyakumari Lok Sabha byelection: Congress candidate Vijayakumar declares assets worth Rs 53.24 crore

KANYAKUMARI: Businessman and actor V Vijayakumar, 37, who is contesting as the Congress candidate for the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha byelection, filed his nomination papers on Thursday and declared that the total value of his and his three dependents’ assets is Rs 53.24 crore.
In his affidavit, Vijayakumar stated that he is only a 25% shareholding partner in Vasantha and Co – a leading chain of consumer retail stores -- which has a net worth of Rs 142.39 crore as on March 31, 2020.He stated that the value of his 25% shares is Rs 35.6 crore.
He declared that the total value of movable assets is Rs 41.2 crore. It includes Rs 40.45 crore against his name, his wife’s Rs 60.37 lakh and two other dependents’ assets at Rs 7.54 lakh and Rs 6.11 lakh. The immovable assets worth Rs 12.04 crore included agricultural land worth Rs 11.39 crore. He has liabilities to the tune of Rs 50 lakh that included government dues of Rs 2.34 lakh, loans of Rs 1.77 lakh and government dues under dispute at Rs 45.95 lakh.
Along with the affidavit, he requested the returning officer in writing to mention his name as ‘Vijayakumar (alias) Vijay Vasanth’ on the ballot papers, both in English and Tamil. Though his name is Vijayakumar, he has been known as ‘Vijay Vasanth’ over the last 15 years in the cine industry and among people of Kanyakumari when he campaigned for his father in the 2014 and 2019 general elections. He enclosed an affidavit stating that Vijayakumar and Vijay Vasanth are the same person.
He has one criminal case pending against him at the investigation stage. He was booked under six sections of the Indian Penal Code, two sections of the Tamil Nadu City Police Act and The Epidemic Diseases Act.
Vijayakumar met his opponent Pon Radhakrishnan of the BJP at the returning officer’s office and exchanged greetings.