Many corporate honchos lag behind 'netas' in assets

Apart from Nilekani, Meera Sanyal and a few others, most other entrepreneurs-turned-candidates aren't as wealthy as the persons fielded against them

Lok Sabha candidates with corporate background, such as Nandan Nilekani and Meera Sanyal, may rank much above their political rivals on wealth charts, but many others from India Inc who are contesting polls lag behind 'netas' in accumulating assets.

Nilekani, former chief of Infosys, figures among the richest in fray for 16th Lok Sabha elections with declaration of Rs 7,700 crore assets along with his wife, while ex-banker Meera Sanyal also stands taller than her constituency rivals in terms of declared assets of Rs 50 crore.

Similar is the case with Naveen Jindal, Chairman of Jindal Power and V Balakrishnan, former director at Infosys, who are wealthier than their respective rival candidates.

However, hotelier Farhan Azmi, Shyama Charan Gupta, who owns bidi business, and Ashfaq Ahmed Madaki, a young entrepreneurial face of AAP, have lesser assets compared to the persons fielded against them, shows an analysis of assets declared in the nomination affidavits of various candidates.

Interestingly, a significant number of candidates with corporate background have been fielded by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is fighting its debut Lok Sabha polls after the stupendous success in Delhi assembly elections late last year.

Azmi, who is contesting from the high-profile Mumbai North-Central parliamentary constituency on Samajwadi Party ticket, own assets to the tune of Rs 65 crore.

However, Poonam Mahajan (BJP candidate), daughter of late Pramod Mahajan, who is also fighting for the same constituency has higher networth than Azmi, while sitting MP Priya Dutt is just Rs one crore short of the hotelier's wealth.

Mahajan has wealth to the tune of Rs 108 crore, while Dutt, who is contesting on Congress ticket, has assets valued at Rs 64 crore.

Shyama Charan Gupta, who is fighting against Congress' Nand Gopal Gupta and AAP's Adarsh Shastri for Allahabad seat, has Rs 40.45 crore.

The net worth of BJP's Shyama Charan Gupta, however, is lesser than rival contestant Nand Gopal Gupta who has fortune of Rs 95 crore.

Madaki, who will fight from Chikkodi (Karnataka), has assets worth Rs 2.35 lakh. His rival contestant Prakash B Hukkeri has fortune valued at Rs 1.77 crore, Ramesh V Katti has a net worth of Rs 2.83 crore.

Nilekani, who co-founded IT firm Infosys with Narayana Murthy and left it to head the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), is the wealthiest candidate so far in the entire election arena. He and his wife have assets worth Rs 7,700 crore.