The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) candidate from Jamnagar, Poonam Maadam, is the wealthiest candidate with declared assets of ₹ 147 crore, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). This is a significant increase from her declared assets of ₹ 42.7 crore in the 2019 elections.
On the other end of the spectrum, Rekha Chaudhari of the Bahujan Samaj Party, contesting from the Bardoli (Scheduled Tribe) seat, has declared assets of a mere ₹ 2,000.
Out of the 266 candidates vying for the 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state, 68, or 26% of the total, are ‘crorepatis’ (individuals with assets exceeding ₹ 10 million), as reported by ADR on Monday.
Mukesh Dalal, the unopposed BJP candidate from Surat, has declared assets exceeding ₹ 17 crore. Union ministers Parshottam Rupala and Mansukh Mandaviya, also contesting the elections from Gujarat, have declared assets of more than ₹ 17 crore and ₹ 7 crore respectively.
Gujarat BJP president CR Paatil, seeking re-election from Navsari, has declared assets exceeding ₹ 39 crore. Among Congress candidates, Bharat Makwana from Ahmedabad (West), a seat reserved for Scheduled Castes, is the wealthiest with assets over ₹ 25 crore.
The BJP leads with 24 ‘crorepati’ candidates, followed by 21 from the Congress and four from the Bahujan Samaj Party. The average assets of BJP candidates stand at over ₹ 15 crore, while the figure is ₹ 6 crore for the Congress.
According to ADR, out of the 266 candidates, 19 are women. The candidates’ age distribution is as follows: 16 are in the 25-30 age group, 61 in the 31-40 segment, 88 between 41-50 years, 60 in the 51-60 bracket, 35 are between 61 and 70 and six are above 70.
In terms of educational qualifications, five out of 266 candidates have doctorates, seven are illiterates, 14 are literates, 32 are graduates, 24 are graduate professionals, 18 are postgraduates and 14 hold diplomas.
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