In Assam’s upcoming Lok Sabha elections on April 19, a noteworthy trend has emerged with 15 ‘crorepati’ candidates vying for the five parliamentary seats. Among the 35 candidates in contention, 15 have declared assets exceeding Rs one crore, with independent candidate Diluwara Begum Chowdhury leading the pack as the wealthiest, contesting from the Kaziranga constituency.

 The five constituencies heading to the polls are Jorhat, Kaziranga, Dibrugarh, Sonitpur, and Lakhimpur. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leads the roster with five candidates, followed by three from the Congress, two from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and one each from the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) and Bharatiya Gana Parishad (BGP). Additionally, three independents are also in the fray.

The average assets of AAP candidates top the list at Rs six crore, followed by BJP candidates with over Rs four crore, Congress candidates with Rs three crore, and both AITC and BGP candidates with Rs one crore each.

 Independent candidate Diluwara Begum Chowdhury, owning fuel stations, boasts total assets exceeding Rs 17.58 crore, with a significant portion in immovable assets. AAP’s Manoj Dhanowar and Rishiraj Kaundinya also feature prominently among the ‘crorepati’ candidates.

 Among the BJP candidates, Sonitpur nominee Ranjit Dutta emerges as the wealthiest, followed closely by Union Minister Sarbananada Sonowal and sitting MP Topon Gogoi.

 In the Congress camp, Uday Shankar Hazarika and Gaurav Gogoi lead the asset declaration, closely followed by Premlal Ganju.

 Independent candidates Pradip Bhandari and Abdul Hoque, along with candidates from smaller parties like Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Gana Parishad, also have substantial assets.

However, some candidates declare considerably lesser assets, with two contestants from Kaziranga constituency reporting assets below Rs one lakh, and SUCI(C)’s Lakhimpur candidate, Pallab Pegu, declaring the least with Rs 38,169.