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Millionaires in Indian polls race

Paliab Bhattacharya, New Delhi
Several of the big names in Indian parliamentary elections, including chief of India's ruling Congress Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul and leader of the opposition L K Advani are millionaires and the value of their assets have gone up in the last five years.
A look at the affidavits by the candidates declaring their assetswhich is mandatory at the time of filing nomination papersshows a sharp rise in their wealth.
The richest among the candidates who have filed their nominations so far is 53-year-old businessman Khimji Patadia, based in India's financial capital Mumbai, who in his affidavit has declared assets worth Rs 514 crore mainly in jewellery and real estate.
A college drop out, Patadia hails from Gujarat state and is the promoter of Swastik group of companies which has construction and jewellery businesses.
The next richest is L Rajagopal, the Congress party candidate from Vijawada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, worth Rs 299 crore.
Among the big guns of politics are, ofcourse, 62-year-old Sonia Gandhi who has declared net assets worth Rs 1.37 crore. However, she does not own a house or a flat or a car. according to the affidavit filed to the Returning Officer in her parliamentary constituency Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, the home state of the Nehru-Gandhi family.
Sonia owns 15 bighas of land in Uttar Pradesh's Sultanpur district worth Rs 2.19 lakh and an ancestral house in Italy worth Rs 18.65 lakh, says the affidavit. Five years ago when the previous parliamentary polls were held, Sonia’s assets were worth a mere Rs 85 lakh.
She has paid income tax of Rs 5.6 lakh for the financial year 2008-09 and wealth tax of Rs 32,512 for the same assessment year.
According to the affidavit, Sonia also owns gold jewellery worth Rs 11.8 lakh and has 88kg of silverware worth Rs 18.371akh.
Her 38-year-old son Rahul is, however, richer than his mother, with net assets worth Rs 2.24 crore, as per the affidavit filed by the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family.
At the time of 2004 parliamentary elections, when Rahul made his electoral debut, his assets were worth Rs 22 lakh. Now, Rahul has declared land in Mehrauli in Delhi and satellite town Faridabad in Haryana worth of Rs 37.8 lakh. He also owns two shops worth Rs 1.63 crore in a mall in Delhi.
Rahul has bank deposits of Rs 10.9 lakh and paid income tax of Rs 11.21 laid), sale tax of Rs 5.32 lakh and property tax of Rs 78,000 in the fiscal year 2008-09. He, however, does not own a car.
Advani, BJP's prime ministerial candidate who has filed his nomination from Gandhinagar constituency in Gujarat for the coming polls, has declared his movable and immovable assets to be worth Rs 3.5 crore, an almost threefold rise over the Rs 1.3 crore in 2004.
Advani owns two flats in Haryana and a house in Gandhinagar. He also owns 115 tolas of gold jewellery valued at Rs 16 lakh. He too does not own a car.
Congress candidate from Mumbai North-Central constituency Priya Dutt, daughter of late film actor and Congress leader Sunil Dutt, has declared assets worth Rs 37 crore. This includes agricultural land, commercial and residential buildings, houses and apartments in Mumbai.
Indian Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar's assets are worth Rs eight crore. His daughter Supriya Sule, who is also in electoral fray this time, is richer than him with declared assets of Rs 53 crore.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekara Reddy has properties worth Rs 1.35 crore and his son Y S Jaganmohan Reddy is richer with assets worth Rs 77 crore.
Veteran film director Prakash Jha, who is contesting the poll as a candidate from Ram Vilas Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party in Bihar, has assets worth Rs 55 crore.
Indian Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, a businessman and a party colleague of Sharad Pawar, has assets worth Rs 74 crore.
Other millionaire politicians in the electoral contest are Samajwadi Party's Abu Azmi, from Mumbai North West, and assets worth Rs 124 crore. Film star Chiranjeevi of Andhra Pradesh, who floated a political party last year, owns assets worth Rs 88 crore and former state chief minister and Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu has properties worth Rs 68 crore.