Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Bhojpuri singer-turned-politician Manoj Tiwari is the richest among the prominent candidates representing the BJP, AAP, and Congress in the fray for the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi. The elections are scheduled to take place on all seven Lok Sabha seats of Delhi on May 25 in the sixth phase of the election.
Tiwari is contesting from the North East Delhi seat from the BJP third time in a row.
Manoj Tiwari's total assets
Tiwari disclosed an income of Rs 46.25 lakh in his Income Tax returns for the fiscal year 2022-23. He mentioned that his income sources include earnings from singing, acting, and his role as an MP.
According to Tiwari's affidavit, his total movable assets, comprising bank deposits, investments, jewellery, and vehicles, amount to Rs 10.53 crore, while those of his spouse total Rs 1.21 crore. His immovable assets were valued at Rs 17.52 crore, whereas those belonging to his wife amounted to Rs 3.50 crore.
Who is Manoj Tiwari
Bhojpuri actor, singer, and politician Manoj Tiwari is a prominent member of the BJP and serves as its Delhi unit president. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Tiwari secured victory over Sheila Dikshit, a Congress veteran and former Delhi Chief Minister, from the North East Delhi constituency by a significant margin of 363,000 votes.
Born on February 1, 1971, Tiwari hails from Atarwalia, a remote village in Bihar's Kaimur district. He completed BA (Honours) from the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) from where he also did a masters in physical education in 1994.
Entering politics in 2009, Tiwari contested the Lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur constituency on a Samajwadi Party ticket but was defeated by Yogi Adityanath, the current Chief Minister of UP.
He joined the BJP in 2013 and contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from North East Delhi, emerging victorious against the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP's) Anand Kumar by a margin of 144,084 votes. Assuming the role of president of the BJP's Delhi unit in 2016, Tiwari led his party to a historic win in the 2017 Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) election. Prior to the 2020 Delhi Assembly election, speculation arose that Tiwari could be a potential chief ministerial candidate for the BJP. However, the party officially did not announce any chief ministerial face.
Details of assets of other candidates
The second wealthiest candidate is Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, the BJP's nominee for South Delhi, with total assets amounting to Rs 21.08 crore. According to his Income Tax returns for 2022-23, Bidhuri reported an income of Rs 14.93 lakh.
Following him is Mahabal Mishra, the AAP's candidate from West Delhi, who has declared assets worth Rs 19.93 crore.
Oxford-returned lawyer Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of the late former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, holds the fourth position with total assets valued at Rs 19 crore. Following her is former AAP leader Raaj Kumar Anand, who switched to the BSP, owns assets worth Rs 17.87 crore. He declared in his poll affidavit that he has vehicles worth Rs 51 lakh including that of his wife.
Congress' Kanhaiya Kumar from North East seat contesting against Tiwari has a total asset of Rs 10.65 lakh. He has a PhD from JNU that he completed in 2019. BJP's Kamaljeet Sehrawat from West Delhi seat declared her movable assets worth Rs 1.30 crore and immovable assets worth Rs 27.60 lakh in her poll affidavit.
Praveen Khandelwal, the BJP's Chandni Chowk candidate, declared assets worth Rs 6.62 crore. According to his Income Tax returns of 2022-23, he had an income of Rs 4.56 lakh. He completed his graduation from Delhi University' Ramjas College.
Udit Raj, the Congress' North West Delhi candidate has shown an income of about Rs 1 crore in his 2022-23 Income Tax returns. He has movable assets worth Rs 5.54 crore.
Rajan Singh, the first third-gender candidate in the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi, also filed his papers from the South Delhi seat. His election affidavit shows Rs 1 lakh cash in hand and total movable assets worth Rs 15.10 lakh, including 200 grams gold and about Rs 10,000 in a bank account. Singh declared no immovable assets in his poll affidavit.
Kuldeep Kumar, the AAP's candidate from East Delhi, has declared movable assets of Rs 21.41 lakh and no immovable assets.
Congress' J P Agarwal is a veteran Congress leader fielded from Chandni Chowk. He has total moveable assets worth Rs 76.98 lakh and immovable assets worth Rs 1.78 crore. He completed his graduation from Delhi University's Hansraj College in 1964.
Harsh Malhotra stated in his affidavit that his total assets stood at Rs 3.75 crore and his source of income is the printing business. The East Delhi BJP candidate is a law graduate from the Delhi University.
Sahi Ram, an MLA from the Tughalaqbad constituency, declared in his affidavit that his main source of income was his salary and allowances as an MLA, interest on savings account and rent. According to his affidavit, Ram owns movable assets of Rs 34.80 lakh and Rs 1.04 crore as immovable assets.
Yogender Chandoliya, the BJP's North West Delhi candidate showed an income of Rs 3.83 lakh in his Income Tax returns filed for 2022-23. His movable assets are worth Rs 29.31 lakh and those of his wife Rs 31.92 lakh, the affidavit showed. Chandoliya owns a third of a joint family property in Raigar Pura that has a current market value of Rs 2.15 crore. He and his wife also own separate vehicles.
Delhi will go to polls in the sixth phase on May 25, with counting to take place on June 4. The scrutiny of the filed nomination papers will be held on May 7, while the last date to withdraw names is May 9.
(With PTI inputs)
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