New Delhi: The results of Lok Sabha elections 2019 once again proved that money alone cannot help you win election as the richest candidate in this year’s elections faced huge defeat from Pataliputra.
In fact, only five among the top 10 richest candidates managed to win, while five faced defeat at the hustings.
The country’s richest candidate was Ramesh Kumar Sharma and he contested as an Independent from Pataliputra Lok Sabha seat in Bihar.
According to Election Commission data, Sharma lost his deposit as he secured only 1,556 votes. He had declared a net asset of Rs 1,107 crore in his papers submitted at the time of nomination.
Among 10 top richest contestants in this Lok Sabha elections, three were from Andhra Pradesh, two each from Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, and one each from Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Telangana.
The second richest candidate in the fray was Konda Vishweshwar Reddy of the Congress. He contested from Chevella Lok Sabha constituency in Telangana, but was defeated by G Ranjith Reddy of Telangana by a margin of 14,317 votes.
Vishweshwar had declared a total asset of over Rs 895 crore in his nomination papers. He is the son-in-law of the Apollo Group chairman C Pratap Reddy.
Nakul Nath of the Congress was the third richest candidate with a declared net asset of over Rs 660 crore. Nakul, however, won from Chhindwara Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh by a margin of 37,536 votes.
Congress candidate from Kanyakumari, Vasanthakumar, was the country’s fourth richest candidate with a net asset of Rs 417 crore. He defeated BJP’s Pon Radhakrishnan by a margin of 2,59,933 votes.
Jyotiraditya Scindia of the Congress was the country’s fifth richest candidate with a net asset of Rs 374 crore. He contested from Guna in Madhya Pradesh and lost by a margin of 1,25,549 votes.
The sixth richest candidate in the fray was industrialist Prasad Veera Potluri with a net asset of Rs 347 crore. He contested on the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) ticket from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh but lost by 8,726 votes to TDP candidate Kerineni Srinivas.
Uday Singh of the Congress, the seventh richest candidate with a declared net asset of Rs 341 crore, contested from Bihar’s Purnia but lost by a margin of 2,63,461 votes.
Congress’ D K Suresh was the eighth richest candidate in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with a net asset of Rs 338 crore. He contested from Bengaluru Rural in Karnataka and won with a margin of 2,06,870 votes. This is the only seat out of 28 in Karnataka which the Congress managed to win in the Lok Sabha elections this year.
Industrialist Kanumuru Raghurama Krishna Raja was the country’s ninth richest contestant with a net asset of Rs 325 crore. He won by a margin of 31,909 votes from Nasapuram seat in Andhra Pradesh.
Jayadeva Galla, an industrialist and owner of Amara Raja Batteries, was the tenth richest candidate in the fray this time and he won by a margin of 4,205 votes from Guntur parliamentary constituency in Andhra Pradesh. Galla had declared net assets of over Rs 305 crore in his nomination papers.