Tamil Nadu Polls Reveal Decline In Jayalalithaa’s Assets And Swelling Of Karunanidhi’s Wealth

Elections in Tamil Nadu are always colourful. The campaigning is colourful with most major players having film background. There is melodrama and one interesting aside in this election is the talk of fortunes.

In a contrast of sorts, there is a decline of total assets declared by AIADMK chief and Chief minister J Jayalalithaa while her challenger DMK chief M Karunanidhi has managed to increase his total assets.

Jayalalithaa has declared assets worth Rs 113.73 crore. Filing her nomination for R K Nagar, the AIADMK chief declared Rs 41.63 crore in movable assets and nearly Rs 72.10 crore in immovable assets, which added up to Rs 3.40 crore less than the Rs 117.13 crore she had declared in the 2015 bypoll.

Her affidavit is punctuated by details of bank accounts frozen and shares and jewellery seized. Against investment in companies, she has declared that “various deposits and shares with companies have been seized by the police and with the custody of the court...” This is in connection with a disproportionate assets case against her. “As the possession is not with me, the value could not be ascertained.”

She said the value of her 21,280.300 grams gold jewellery could not be ascertained either as it was with the Karnataka government treasury. And of the nearly Rs 10.64 crore bank balance declared, various accounts with Rs 2.47 crore in them have been frozen, she declared.

Meanwhile, DMK president M Karunanidhi filed his nomination from his home turf Tiruvarur. According to Karunanidhi’s affidavit, his assets have increased from Rs 4.92 crore in 2011 to Rs 13.43 crore in 2016. It is a whopping 272 percent jump. His yearly income in 2009-10 was Rs 37 lakh and it rose to Rs 1.21 crore in 2014-15.

The DMK chief says that he does not have a residential building nor a car. Karunanidhi also doesn’t own agricultural lands or plots. Same is the case with his wives Dayalu Ammal and Rajathi.

Vaiko hits out at DMK and stays out of polls

MDMK leader Vaiko has backed away from contesting in the election and nominated Vinayagam Ramesh as the candidate for the Kovilpatti constituency.

Vaiko claimed that the DMK was trying to create tension between the Naidu and Thevar community people by using his name and hence has decided not to contest this time. He was someone who’s not inclined towards any caste and hence does not want to get involved in the election as it may trigger caste clashes, claimed Vaiko.