Guwahati: In the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Assam on April 19, a total of 35 candidates are vying for the five parliamentary constituencies. Among them, fifteen candidates are ‘crorepatis,’ with independent candidate Diluwara Begum Chowdhury emerging as the wealthiest contestant, hailing from the Kaziranga seat.
The constituencies up for grabs include Jorhat, Kaziranga, Dibrugarh, Sonitpur, and Lakhimpur.
The candidate pool comprises five from the BJP, three from Congress, two from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), one each from All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) and Bharatiya Gana Parishad (BGP), along with three independents.
A report by the PTI stated that as per the affidavits filed by the candidates, AAP candidates boast the highest average assets at Rs 6 crore, followed by BJP candidates at over Rs 4 crore, Congress at Rs 3 crore, AITC and BGP at Rs 1 crore each.
Independent candidate Diluwara Begum Chowdhury, who owns fuel stations, leads the wealth rankings with total assets exceeding Rs 17.58 crore. AAP’s Manoj Dhanowar, has assets worth over Rs 9.32 crore.
AAP’ ‘s Sonitpur candidate Rishiraj Kaundinya is in eighth place with total assets worth Rs 2.91 crore.
The wealthiest BJP candidate is Sonitpur nominee and MLA Ranjit Dutta with total assets worth Rs 8.97 crore. Union Minister for Shipping and Waterways and BJP candidate for Dibrugarh Lok Sabha seat Sarbananada Sonowal is the second richest BJP candidate with total assets worth over Rs 4.75 crore.
Jorhat sitting MP Topon Gogoi follows closely with Rs 3.22 crore, BJP’s Lakhimpur sitting MP Pradan Baruah with Rs 2.42 crore total assets, Rajya Sabha MP Kamakhya Prasad Tasawith Rs 2 crore.
Congress candidates Uday Shankar Hazarika and Gaurav Gogoi also feature prominently in the list, with net assets of Rs 6.82 crore and Rs 4.90 crore respectively.
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Among the candidates with assets over Rs 2 crore are independent candidates Pradip Bhandari and Abdul Hoque, while Trinamool Congress candidate Ghana Kanta Chutia and Bharatiya Gana Parishad’s Sailen Chandra Malakar from Kaziranga have assets worth over Rs 1 crore.
However, not all candidates boast significant wealth. For instance, SUCI(C)’s Lakhimpur candidate Pallab Pegu has declared the least assets at Rs 38,169.
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