Lok Sabha Elections 2024 phase 5: Richest and poorest candidates in fray

NEW DELHI: Four phases of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections have concluded, with the fifth phase scheduled for May 20. A total of 695 candidates will contest elections across 8 States/UTs going for polls in Phase 5 of Lok Sabha polls 2024.

According to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), out of 695 candidates, 227 (33%) are Crorepatis, with assets exceeding 1 crore.

Among the major parties, all candidates from several parties are Crorepatis: 10 out of 10 from SP, 6 out of 6 from Shiv Sena, 4 out of 4 from RJD, and 2 out of 2 from the Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar. Additionally, 36 out of 40 (90%) candidates from BJP, 7 out of 8 (88%) from Shivsena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), 6 out of 7 (86%) from AITC, 15 out of 18 (83%) from INC, 4 out of 5 (80%) from BJD, and 2 out of 4 (50%) from AIMIM have declared assets worth more than Rs. 1 crore.

Here are the richest candidates and those with the lowest declared assets contesting in this phase of the Lok Sabha elections:

Richest candidates

1. Anurag Sharma of BJP is the richest candidate in Phase 5. He is contesting for the Jhansi seat in Uttar Pradesh, has declared assets worth Rs 212 crore.
2. Nilesh Bhagwan Sambare, an Independent candidate for the Bhiwandi seat in Maharashtra, closely follows the top rank with declared assets worth Rs 116 crore.
3. Union minister Piyush Goyal of BJP, contesting for the Mumbai North seat in Maharashtra, ranks third with declared assets worth Rs 110 crore.
4. Fourth is Suresh Gopinath Mhatre Alias Balya Mama of the Nationalist Congress Party, contesting for the Bhiwandi seat in Maharashtra, has declared assets worth Rs 107 crore.
5. Krishna Nand Tripathi of the Indian National Congress follows, contesting for JharkhandChatra seat, has declared assets worth Rs 70 crore.
6. Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo of BJP, contesting for the Bolangir seat in Odisha, has declared assets worth Rs 67 crore.
7. Ravindra Dattaram Waikar of Shiv Sena, contesting for the Mumbai North-West seat in Maharashtra, has declared assets worth Rs 54 crore making him rank seventh richest in the list.
8. Kapil Moreshwar Patil of BJP, contesting for the Bhiwandi seat, has declared assets worth Rs 49 crore is eighth in the list.

Poorest Candidates

1. Mohammad Sultan Ganaie, an Independent candidate for the Baramulla seat in Jammu and Kashmir, has the least wealth among the contesting candidates with assets worth Rs 67.
2. Mukesh Kumar, an Independent candidate for the Muzaffarpur seat in Bihar, with declared assets worth Rs 700 has second least wealth.
3. Surajit Hembram, an Independent candidate for the Hooghly seat in West Bengal follows with declared assets worth Rs 5,427.
4. Mehraj Uddin Najar, an Independent candidate for the Baramulla seat in Jammu and Kashmir, has declared assets worth Rs 10,000.
5. Devika Sika of the National Apni Party, contesting for the Bargarh seat in Odisha, has declared assets worth Rs 10,222.
6. Rohit Kumar Pathak, an Independent candidate for the Barrackpur seat in West Bengal, has declared assets worth Rs 15,041 and ranks sixth on candidates with least wealth.
7. Pradyut Chowdhuri of SUCI(C), contesting for the Sreerampur seat in West Bengal, has declared assets worth Rs 16,355.
8. Shridhar Narayan Salve of Bhim Sena, contesting for the Kalyan seat in Maharashtra, has declared assets worth Rs 20,000.

Polling will take place across 49 Lok Sabha constituencies spanning six states and two union territories. Major states including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra will cast their ballots in Phase 5 with the vote counting scheduled for June 4.