AP Bypolls: Deepak Reddy is Richest Candidate in India

AP bypolls have sprang up a startlingly richest candidate for the ensuing by-elections on 12 June. The TDP candidate from Raidurg constituency in Ananthapur district has emerged as the richest candidate in India ever to have contested in elections. The candidate, G Deepak Reddy has put his worth close to Rs. 6,800 crore, which is the highest figure declared in the country so far.

The 39-year-old Telugu Desam Party candidate's election affidavit states his worth as being close to Rs. 6,800 crore. That is the highest figure ever declared by a candidate in Indian elections - Parliament or Assembly - since the practice of filing affidavits with these details was enforced in 2004. The figure is almost four-and-a-half times the next in the Top 10 list. That was Rs. 1,522.5 crore declared by Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, the former Maharaja of Mysore, in the 2004 Lok Sabha election.

No less startling is that Mr. Deepak Reddy's affidavit reports his annual income as just over Rs. 3.27 lakh, and that of his wife at just under Rs. 2 lakh. Remarkable figures on a worth of Rs. 6,800 crore. "One is fixed assets," he explained while on the campaign trail. "The other is income. There's a difference." A very substantial difference. The income stated is from his Income Tax return for the assessment year 2009-10 (that is, financial year 2008-09). The affidavit carries no figures for the two subsequent financial years. It does state that Mr. Deepak Reddy has an MBA from Widener University in Philadelphia, U.S. The TDP candidate is also the son-in-law of J.C. Prabhakar Reddy, Congress leader and ex-Municipal Chairman of Tadipatri in Anantapur - whose brother is J.C. Diwakar Reddy, Congress MLA and former long-time Minister.

Mr. Deepak Reddy explained that the huge figure comes from the stake he has in property, some of it embroiled in disputes. And also that “he has agreements with some parties who I am helping in the battle to recover land grabbed by the government.” Among the property parcels he lists in an annexure to the affidavit, the top three are worth Rs. 3,128 crore, Rs. 943 crore and Rs. 529 crore. Just the value of the property, some of which are unregistered, comes to Rs. 6,781 crore. Much of that is under litigation. Apart from these, he has assets worth around Rs. 20 crore. He told that his main interests are in mining business.

Modi Is Not Our PM: Owaisi

MIM is a recognized state political party based in the Indian state of Telangana, with its head office in the old city of Hyderabad, which has its roots in the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen founded in 1927. Unlike most of the regional and national level parties, MIM party leaders ‘fight’ only for the well-being of Muslims, whereas no other party has such communal feelings. In their each and every speech, MIM leaders speak only about Muslims. If these leaders are here to fight for Muslims, then why there are no development works are happening in old city area for decades. Akbaruddin Owaisi faced criticism for making hate remarks on Narendra Modi and Hindus. Recently, his elder brother Asaduddin Owaisi made some notorious annotations. In a one-on-one debate between BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra and Asaduddin Owaisi on the topic of demonetization in a popular Hindi channel, the former left no stone unturned in exposing the latter’s communal designs. Owaisi claimed how most of the Muslim community still remains unbanked and that demonetization has caused severe inconvenience to Muslims. He even went on to say that ATM’s in Muslim-dominated areas weren’t fed enough money. He indirectly alleged that the Modi government hadn’t done anything for Muslims. Even after being pressurized Owaisi didn’t call Narendra Modi as his Prime Minister. He went on said, “Your Prime Minister…” On the other hand, Sambit spoke wisely and called Owaisi a leader of small stature because he talked only of Muslims. He said that no area was Muslim or Hindu and that all areas belonged to India. Owaisi was constantly quoting an RBI report, to which Sambit challenged him to show where the RBI had used the word ‘Muslim’. Sambit even said that if a Muslim leader speaks of Muslims it’s not an issue, but the moment a VHP leader speaks of Hindus people go crazy accusing them of imposing the Hindutva ideology. The most amazing of his counters was to Owaisi’s claims of Muslims not having been brought into the banking system. Sambit said that when banks or ATMs are to be opened in Muslim areas leaders like Owaisi shout that banking is un-Islamic and that Muslims should refrain from it! This video of debate between Sambit Patra and Asaduddin Owaisi is going viral in social media.