Worth over Rs 300 crore, Rajgopal richest candidate

Nalgonda: With assets of over Rs 300 crore, Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy of the Congress party is the richest candidate in fray in next month's Assembly elections in the State.

Rajgopal Reddy, who is contesting from Munugode constituency in Nalgonda district, declared family assets of Rs 314 crore in the affidavit filed before election authorities along with his nomination papers.

His net worth has gone up by 371 per cent during last four years. The Congress leader, a businessman, had declared assets of Rs 66 crore while contesting the Lok Sabha elections in 2014.

Rajgopal Reddy, who was a member of Lok Sabha from 2009 to 2014, is currently a member of State Legislative Council. His wife K Laxmi, who owns about Rs 290 crore of assets, is a director in Sushee Infra and Mining Ltd. According to the affidavit, the firm is executing projects in various states in the country.

Marri Janardhan Reddy of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is the second richest candidate for the December 7 elections. Seeking re-election from Nagarkurnool constituency, he has declared family assets of Rs 161 crore, up from Rs 111 crore in the previous elections.

Janardhan Reddy and wife Jamuna Rani, both business persons, had over Rs 8 crore income during 2017-18, a drop of 22 per cent in four years.
G Yoganand of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the third richest among candidates with assets of Rs 146 crore.

A realtor, Yoganand is contesting from Serlingampally constituency on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Nama Nageswara Rao of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is at fourth place with assets at Rs 113 crore. He is a candidate from Khammam constituency. He who was one of the richest MPs in the country with assets of Rs 338 crore declared in 2014.

Founder of Madhucon Group of companies, Nageswara Rao is one of the leading entrepreneurs of Telangana. According to the latest affidavit, he and his wife Nama Chinnamma together had income of Rs 1.76 crore during 2017-18 against over Rs 4 crore in 2012-13.

P Shekhar Reddy of TRS, who is seeking re-electing from Bhongir constituency, declared assets of Rs 91 crore. His fortunes have gone up by 46 percent since 2014.

Arikepudi Gandhi is another TRS candidate with assets of over Rs 50 crore. A candidate from Serlingampally constituency, he declared assets of Rs 62 crore.

The other rich candidates include former Minister and Congress leader Ponnala Lakshmaiah (Rs 68 crore) and BJP's A V Raghunath Rao (Rs 55 crore) Finance Minister Etela Rajender is the richest among Ministers with Rs 42.41 crore assets while Industries Minister K T Rama Rao, who is son of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, is close second with Rs.41.82 crore assets. Rama Rao's assets increased by over 420 per cent in four years.

Chandrashekhar Rao is worth Rs 23.55 crore. He had assets of Rs 15.15 crore in 2014. TRS chief and his son rank top among candidates with agriculture income.