New Delhi:

The chasm between the richest and poorest candidates in the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls is an eye-watering Rs 716 crore. What makes the disparity even worse is that the gap is basically the declared assets of the richest candidate because the poorest has stated that their net worth is just Rs 320.

The Association for Democratic Reforms has analysed 1,618 of the 1,625 candidates in the running on Friday and 10 of those have declared their assets as zero. The analysis has shown that 450 candidates, or 28% of the total, are crorepatis and have assets worth over Rs 1 crore. 

The richest candidate is Nakul Nath of the Congress, a sitting MP from Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh, who has declared assets worth Rs 716 crore. Mr Nath, son of former chief minister Kamal Nath, had won the only seat for his party in the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. 

The Congress leader is followed by Ashok Kumar of the AIADMK, who has declared Rs 662 crore. Mr Kumar is contesting from Erode in Tamil Nadu.

A distant third is Dhevanathan Yadav of the BJP with assets worth Rs 304 crore. Mr Yadav is contesting from Tamil Nadu’s Sivaganga constituency, where Karti Chidambaram of the Congress is the sitting MP. Mr Chidambaram is tenth on the list, with a net worth of Rs 96 crore. 

Mala Rajya Lakshmi Shah of the BJP, who has been fielded from Uttarakhand’s Tehri Garhwal, is fourth, at Rs 206 crore, followed by the BSP’s Majid Ali, who is contesting from Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur and has a declared net worth of Rs 159 crore.

On the other end of the spectrum, apart from the 10 candidates with declared assets of zero, is  Ponraj K, an Independent candidate from Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi, who has said he has assets worth Rs 320. 

Marginally richer are Kartik Gendlaji Doke and Suriyamuthu, Independent candidates from Maharashtra’s Ramtek constituency and Tamil Nadu’s Chennai North constituency respectively, who have declared assets of Rs 500.

New Delhi:

The nomination process for 102 parliamentary constituencies spread across 21 states and Union territories, where polling would be held in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections on April 19, began on Wednesday with the issuance of a notification.

According to the notification issued by the Election Commission on behalf of the President, the last date for filing nomination papers is March 27.

However, due to a festival, March 28 is the last date for filing nominations for the Lok Sabha seats in Bihar going to polls in the first phase. Voting in four out of 40 seats in Bihar will be held in the first phase.

Nomination papers will be scrutinised on March 28. For Bihar, it would be done on March 30.

The last date for withdrawal of candidature is March 20 while for Bihar, it is April 2.

The elections for the 18th Lok Sabha will begin on April 19 followed by subsequent phases on April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. The counting of votes is on June 4.

The states where polling would be held in the first phase are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep and Puducherry.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)