Rajya Sabha election Congress candidate with assets worth Rs 34 lakh poorest among 5 candidates

Thaawar Chand Gehlot happens to be the richest with assets worth Rs 3.7 crore followed by Dharmendra Pradhan who owns properties worth Rs 3.54 crore.

bhopal Updated: Mar 12, 2018 21:48 IST

BJP candidate Dharmendra Pradhan along with other candidates Thawarchand Gehlot and Ajay Pratap Singh filing nomination papers for Rajya Sabha election in presence of chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at MP state assembly premises in Bhopal on Monday (March 12, 2018). (Photo by Mujeeb Faruqui/Hindustan Times)(Mujeeb Faruqui/HT Photo)

Congress candidate for Rajya Sabha election from Madhya Pradesh Rajmani Patel (72) with assets worth Rs 34 lakh is the poorest among five candidates who filed their nomination papers on Monday for 5 seats, as per affidavits submitted by them to the returning officer.

The other candidates, all from BJP, include union minister for social justice and empowerment Thaawar Chand Gehlot (69), union minister for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan (49), Ajay Pratap Singh (50) and Kailash Soni (67).

Gehlot happens to be the richest with assets worth Rs 3.7 crore followed by Dharmendra Pradhan who owns properties worth Rs 3.54 crore. The assets owned by Ajay Pratap Singh and Kailash Soni are estimated at Rs 1.36 crore and Rs 1.31 crore. The assets of the candidates include the assets of their spouses also.

The only candidate of all the five who is facing criminal charges is Dharmendra Pradhan against whom three criminal cases are pending as per his affidavit. One of the cases was filed against him in Puri in Odisha in 2006 under sections 341, 186, 294, 34 of IPC and section 3 Prevention of Damage to Public Properties Act. Charges were framed on January 22, 2015.

Two other cases include one filed in 2005 under sections 143, 341, 283, 504, 149 of IPC and sections 147 and174 of Indian Railways Act and the other registered in 2010 under sections 143, 283, 431, 294, 506, 149 of IPC and section 7 of Criminal Law Amendment Act.

Pradhan has taken a loan of Rs 10 lakh from his wife and two other loans amounting to Rs 12 lakh from three persons. He owns two cars while his wife owns 3 trucks and has taken a loan of Rs 67.42 lakh from a bank.

Gehlot owns two weapons- a revolver and a gun. Similarly, Kailash Soni too owns a revolver and a gun. Ajay Singh and his wife have no vehicle in their name.

On the education front, Dharmendra Pradhan and Ajay Singh are postgraduate (MA) while Gehlot is BA and DLit. Rajmani Patel is MA, LLB while Kailash Soni is BA, LLB.