Six 'super-rich' candidates in TN poll fray

Chennai: Six ‘super-rich' candidates, each having assets worth over Rs 50 crore, are in the fray in the Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu, with Congress nominee and businessman H Vasanthakumar topping the list at over Rs 283 crore.The assets declaration of the 1,318 candidates who have filed nominations for the April 24 polls reveal interesting details as many of them are crorepatis though there are also aspirants like CPI-M's G Anandan who has a meagre 1.92 lakh. Vasanthakumar, owner of the popular Vasanth & Co, a retail chain of consumer durables in the state and a former MLA, has movable assets worth Rs 98.63 crore and immovable assets Rs 184.50 crore. He is contesting from Kanyakumari constituency.A C Shanmugam, President of the Pudhiya Needhi Katchi, an ally of BJP contesting from Vellore on the Saffron party's lotus symbol, comes next in the super-rich category. Heading several higher education institutions, he has assets worth Rs 106.10 crore.DMK leader and former Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, S Jagathrakshakan owns assets to the tune of Rs 78.04 crore.Among other businesses, his family runs a medical college and several engineering colleges in Chennai. A sitting Lok Sabha member from Arakonam, he is contesting from Sriperumbudur constituency in this elections. Next comes T R Pachamuthu, also founder of educational institutions, who owns assets worth Rs.77.69 crore. Heading the Indhiya Jananayaka Katchi (IJK), an ally of the BJP, he is contesting from Perambalur. He owns SRM group of educational institutions.Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram's son Karti P Chidambaram, making his electoral debut from Sivaganga, has assets to the tune of Rs 59.66 crore.Karti Chidambaram's family has 100 acres land in Coorg, in Karnataka. He has a residential property in Gurgaon measuring 6,400 square ft.His wife Srinidhi has 1,350 square ft property in Chennai's upscale Poes Garden. His daughter Aditi has 2,441 square ft land in Chennai.Sarubala Thondaiman, Congress candidate in Tiruchirappalli together with her husband Rajagopal Thondaiman, who is a scion of the erstwhile Pudukottai princely state, has assets worth Rs 57.07 crore. Several others in the fray own between Rs 10 to Rs 25 crore assets.Mohan Kumaramangalam, Congress candidate in Salem constituency and son of late BJP leader Rangarajan Kumaramangalam has assets worth Rs 24.01 crore. Senior DMK leader and former Union minister T R Baalu, contesting from Thanjavur, has disclosed total asset of Rs 20.15 crore.Congress candidate in Mayiladuthurai constituency and former Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar has assets worth Rs 11.68 crore.Another DMK leader and former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran has properties worth Rs 10.94 crore. However, there are several candidates who do not possess so many assets.For instance Anandan, CPI (M) candidate in Villupuram, has assets worth just Rs 1.92 lakh. P Lingam, CPI candidate in Tenkasi has assets worth Rs.12.41 lakhs.