Vijayawada: Based on the 1,979 nominations submitted so far to the Andhra Pradesh election commission, around 26% of them are crorepatis — 2% more than in 2014.The number of politicians in the Rs 100 crore club has also increased from five to seven in 2019. More nominations were to be filed by the end of Monday and an overall picture of politicians’ financial growth can be assessed only then.Nevertheless, the fact that rich politicians have better chances of winning can be gleaned from 2014 and 2009 election summaries. Data analysed in 2014 assembly affidavits showed that around 81% of crorepati candidates won their contests while in 2009, it was 53%.From 5% to 1,800%, there has been a surge in most of the nominees’ overall asset value in the state since their last affidavit in 2014.A case-in-point would be Gottipati Ravi Kumar, a TDP MLA who defected from YSRC saw a 72% increase in his total assets from Rs 16 crore to Rs 58 crore.Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu also saw his overall assets multiply by 223% between 2014 and 2019, making him one of the richest chief ministers of the country. The number of candidates with declared criminal cases saw a marginal reduction by 2%, compared with 2014. While these politicians do hold liabilities, it is only a fraction of their overall asset value.Political experts said a large number of rich politicians have bought lands in the capital region, the value of which has gone up manifold over the last four years as many projects are coming up. Around 80 candidates have one or more criminal cases against them, however, the figure is 2% less compared with 2014. Similar to 2014, affidavits indicate that less than 45% have filed their ITRs.

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