THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: P A Muhammad Riyas, who is contesting on the CPM ticket from Beypore, is among the candidates who has remained below the income tax slab for the last five fiscals.
However, the total income of his wife Veena T, daughter of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, has more than tripled in the same period.
Similarly, S Jyothi, wife of senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan, is a homemaker and her income ballooned from Rs 12.78 lakh in 2015-16 to Rs 5.39 crore in 2019-20. As for P V Anwar, the independent Left-supported candidate in Nilambur, his income plummeted by 93% in five fiscals, according to disclosures submitted by candidates in the affidavits for assembly polls.
The income disclosures of candidates and their spouses reveal a picture of affluent homemakers and their tax-free candidate spouses, several of them subject to dizzying highs and lows in five years.
Veena T had a total income of Rs 8.25 lakh in 2016-17 as per the tax returns’ statement. By 2020-21, the total income increased to Rs 29.9 lakh, marking a 262% rise.
Her income which was Rs 10.4 lakh in 2017-18 more than doubled by next year to Rs 29.68 lakh and further increased in 2018-19 to Rs 30.72 lakh.
This fiscal, there was a slight dip of Rs 78,323 in the total income.
Her source of money is income from IT consultancy; as per the affidavit.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s income remained in the base tax slab in the past five years while the income of his wife Kamala T dipped from Rs 2.9 lakhs in 2017-18 to Rs 16,400 in 2020-21.
S Jyothi, wife of K Muraleedharan, who is locked in an intense three-cornered contest in Nemom, saw her income leapfrog from Rs 24.5 lakh to Rs 5.39 crore in a year (2018-19 to 2019-20).
K Muraleedharan, on the other hand, has maintained an income of Rs 34 lakh except in 2018-19 when he suffered capital loss of around 5 lakh.
Jyothi’s income comes from rent, dividends, bank interest and agricultural revenue.
P V Anwar, the Nilambur MLA who is contesting for another term, had grappled with losses in the last five years, going by the returns statement.
He had a total income of Rs 59.37 lakh in 2015-16 and by 2019-20 it shrank to Rs 3.98 lakh, recording a loss of more than half a crore.
He has a liability of Rs 5.4 crore, though his self-attained assets have an approximate market value of Rs 34.38 crore.
Jose K Mani, who is contesting from Pala saw his income drop by 19% in five years; in the meantime, his wife Nisha John increased her income.
Nisha John, employed as a HR consultant, sourced income from perks, bank interest and dividend from shares, the affidavit shows.
She has an investment of Rs 2.2 crore as shares in 24 companies. Oommen Chandy had an income of Rs 3.42 lakh in 2014-15 and since then his income has been below the tax slab.
BJP state president K Surendran also had an income in the base tax slab in five years -- ranging between Rs 2.3 - 2.5 lakh.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala’s income dropped by 32% in five years while his wife’s income increased by Rs 9.42 lakh.
Salary from a private insurance brokerage firm is the source of income of his wife. Suresh Gopi, BJP candidate in Thrissur, is arguably the highest income grosser among the candidates. His income was Rs 3.2 crore in 2019-20.