Shifting fortunes: Moveable assets tip the balance for richest candidates

Top 10 candidates' moveable assets Rs 1,815 crore, double immoveable assets of Rs 815 crore

The wealthiest candidates possess a greater portion of their wealth in the form of moveable assets than immoveable ones.

The total value of moveable assets for the top 10 candidates amounts to Rs 1,815 crore, which is more than twice the aggregate value of their immoveable assets, worth Rs 815 crore, according to a Business Standard analysis of data from the Delhi-based Association for Democratic Reforms.

The Supreme Court (SC) ruled on Tuesday that candidates are not required to disclose all their moveable assets.

“…non-disclosure of each and every asset owned by a candidate would not amount to a defect, much less a defect of substantial character. It is not necessary that a candidate declare every item of moveable property that he or his dependent family members own, unless the same is of such value as to constitute a sizeable asset in itself or reflects upon his candidature in terms of his lifestyle and requires disclosure," stated the SC order.

“Every case would have to turn on its own peculiarities, and there can be no hard and fast or straitjacketed rule as to when the non-disclosure of a particular moveable asset by a candidate would amount to a defect of substantial character,” it added.

The analysis also examined the median value of moveable assets across the top 10 candidates in earlier elections, revealing a declining trend.

Moveable assets accounted for 46 per cent of the wealth of the 10 richest candidates on a median basis in the first phase of the 2024 elections, compared to 55 per cent in 2019 and 93 per cent in 2014.

The median represents the middle value for the top 10 candidates in each election. The aggregate value of their assets displays a more varied trend, standing at 68 per cent so far in 2024, 49 per cent in 2019, and significantly higher at 95 per cent in 2014.

Additional data compiled from tracker myneta.info indicates that the elections have attracted wealthier candidates over the past 20 years. Around 10 per cent of candidates were crorepati in 2004, rising to 16 per cent in 2009, and reaching 29 per cent in 2019. The candidate list for Phase 1 shows that 28 per cent are crorepati.

The top candidates in terms of moveable assets in this election’s Phase 1 include Nakul Nath (Rs 669 crore) from Madhya Pradesh, Ashok Kumar (Rs 574 crore) and Dhevanathan Yadav T (Rs 254 crore) from Tamil Nadu, Majid Ali (Rs 95 crore) from Uttar Pradesh, and A C Shanmugam (Rs 74 crore) from Tamil Nadu.

The top candidates in terms of immoveable assets include Uttarakhand’s Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah (Rs 152 crore), Vincent H Pala (Rs 123 crore) from Meghalaya, and Tamil Nadu’s Jayaprakash V (Rs 122 crore).