Telangana Elections 2023: Richest Telangana Candidate Worth Rs 227 Crore, Poorest Has Rs 46 Lakh

Telangana will vote for its third assembly election on Thursday. As many as 2,290 candidates have filed their nominations for 119 seats. 103 sitting Member of Legislative Assembly are re-contesting including Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, his minister-son KT Rama Rao, AIMIM's Akbaruddin Owaisi and Telangana Congress president A Revanth Reddy.

KCR-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is striving to retain power for another consecutive term, while the Congress is fighting tooth and nail to make a comeback; the BJP has fielded three sitting Lok Sabha members to contest the assembly elections.

Election nomination data of re-contesting candidates has revealed that Chief Minister KCR and KT Rama Rao, also known as KTR, stood as the highest earning MLAs in the last financial year and their assets appreciated by 150 and 27 per cent respectively over the span of five years. Akbaruddin Owaisi, AIMIM floor leader in Telangana Assembly, saw a decline of 23 per cent in his assets.

Top Wealth Accumulators

KTR posted the highest income in the last financial year - he earned more than Rs 12.17 crore. Being the highest earning MLA, KTR's assets went up by only 27 per cent in last five years from Rs 41.82 crore in 2018 to Rs 53.31 crore in 2023. He is followed by his father with an income of Rs 3.47 crore in the last financial year. It is also worth mentioning, KCR's assets skyrocketed by 150 per cent from Rs 23.55 crore in 2018 to Rs 58.93 crore in 2023.

The infographic contains the data about the sitting MLAs in Telangana Assembly who are contesting again in the elections. Tap on the infographic to know more.

Sitting MLAs in the Election Battlefield

Out of the 2,290 candidates, 103 sitting members of the assembly are also contesting. Of these candidates, 13 have reported a decrease in their wealth ranging from -1 to -79 per cent compared to the last election in 2018, while the remaining 90 have reported an appreciation in their wealth from 3 to 1,331 per cent.

The data also reveals, average growth in assets of these contestants from 2018 to 2023 stood at Rs 9.43 crore. In 2018, the average assets was Rs 14.44 crore, and increased to Rs 23.87 crore in 2023. The average percentage growth in assets over these five years stood at 65 per cent.

Wealth Surge Among MLAs

On an average, these contestants made around Rs 40.95 lakh in the last financial year. Ravi Shankar Sunke of BRS from the Choppadandi (SC) constituency witnessed the highest surge with a remarkable rise of 1,331 per cent from Rs 20.31 lakh in 2018 to Rs 2.9 crore in 2023. Two-time MLA from Bhongir, Pailla Shekar Reddy of BRS, stood as the wealthiest in the list with Rs 227.51 crore - his assets grew over by 150 per cent, from Rs 90 crore in 2018.

Richest vs Poorest

Akbaruddin Owaisi, the fire brand leader of AIMIM and its floor leader in Telangana Assembly, stood in the list of 13 MLAs, who posted a decline in their assets. The deputy leader of opposition saw a decline of Rs 5.22 crore in his assets from Rs 24.3 crore in 2018 to Rs 18.77 crore in 2023. Korukanti Chander Patel, BRS MLA from the Ramagundam constituency emerged as the least wealthy on the list with assets in 2023 totalling Rs 46.29 lakh. The BRS legislator experienced a 79 per cent decline in his wealth from Rs 2.18 crores in 2018. Following Mr Patel, Congress' Danasari Anasuya Seethakka from the Mulug (ST) constituency stood as the second least wealthy MLA from Telangana. The re-contesting MLA saw a 65 per cent increase in her assets, from Rs 50 lakh in 2018 to Rs 82.83 lakh in 2023.

The infographic contains the data about the sitting MLAs in Telangana Assembly who are contesting again in the elections. Tap on the infographic to know more.

The infographic contains the data about the sitting MLAs in Telangana Assembly who are contesting again in the elections. Tap on the infographic to know more.
 

Disparity in Wealth

The wealth disparity among MLAs is also stark. The combined wealth of all the 103 re-contesting MLAs stands at Rs 2,459 crore. The top 10 wealthiest MLAs account for a combined assets of Rs 1,015 crore. In contrast, the rest have a combined value of Rs 1,442 crore. The top 10 wealthiest MLAs collectively hold approximately 41.28 per cent of the total wealth when compared to the combined assets of all the MLAs.

The infographic contains the data about the sitting MLAs in Telangana Assembly who are contesting again in the elections. Tap on the infographic to know more.