Around 8000 candidates have filed nominations for the assembly elections in Maharashtra. The wealthiest of them is the BJP's Parag Shah - the sitting MLA from Ghatkopar East -- whose current worth is is Rs 3383.06 crore according to his election affidavit.
Mr Shah's property has increased by 575 per cent in the last 5 years. In the 2019 assembly elections, he had mentioned his assets value as Rs 550.62 crores.
"I am an honest candidate. Even my enemies have never claimed that I am not honest," Mr Shah told NDTV today in an exclusive interview.
"A man's wealth is not his property but his feelings," Mr Shah said. "Many people have wealth but I have the urge to make good use of it. I believe that God has given me everything, the country has given me everything, so I should also give something... I am a leader, a businessman and also a social worker. I give more than 50 per cent of my savings for social service," he added.
Mr Shah is the chairman of MICI Group which he has been running for 25 years. Recently he became a talking point because of a brief illness. The 55-year-old brushed it off, saying, "In politics, if you cough the other person starts thinking that you have tuberculosis".
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