Lok Sabha elections: Kangana Ranaut's holdings show immovable asset skew

Real estate accounts for nearly 70% of wealth

A little more than two-thirds of Himachal Pradesh Mandi candidate Kangana Ranaut’s assets are tied up in real estate.

There is limited exposure to mutual funds, shares of listed companies, or bonds; show details from her election affidavit; despite an average annual income in excess of Rs 10 crore over the last five years.

From Rs 12.3 crore income in financial year 2022-23 (FY 23), the total income as shown in the income tax return has fallen to Rs 4.1 crore in FY 23, shows the nomination paper filed by the actress with the Election Commission of India (ECI) on 14 May 2024.

In the last five years, her income was the highest at Rs 12.31 crore in FY 22, as per her affidavit, and the average annual income was around Rs 10 crore.

The actress possesses assets totaling Rs 91.7 crore, comprising a little over Rs 28.7 crore in movable assets and around Rs 62.9 crore in immovable assets. She holds Rs 2 lakh in cash and Rs 1.3 crore spread across various bank accounts.

Nearly 30 per cent of the allocations in the movable assets are towards gold and jewellery worth Rs 8.5 crore. Another amount of Rs 8.6 crore includes loans or advances to others. She owns vehicles including a BMW, a Mercedes Benz, and a Mercedes-Maybach collectively worth Rs 5.5 crore. The bulk of her wealth is tied up in immovable assets.

A similar allocation is seen among other celebrity candidates. A number of them appear to have large allocations towards immovable assets. For example, Hema Malini (89.5 per cent allocation), and Arun Govil (58.7 per cent) who played the role of Ram in the television series Ramayan. Raj Babbar has a relatively lower allocation (20.2 per cent) among key celebrity candidates contesting this election.