Bypoll: BJP candidates richer than Congress candidates

BJP candidates are richer compared to Congress candidates, as per the affidavits filed along with their nomination papers in the byelections to Bagalkot and Davangere South Assembly constituencies.

According to their affidavits, Veerabhadrayya Chandrashekarayya Charantimath, BJP nominee from Bagalkot, has assets of around ₹17.3 crore and liabilities of around ₹5 crore. Mr Charantimath, who has cleared SSLC examination, has been an MLA three times in the past but owns no vehicle.

His opponent and Congress nominee Umesh Meti, has total assets worth ₹8.65 crore and liabilities of ₹2.96 lakh. This is the first time he is fighting an Assembly election, the bypoll for which has been necessitated by the death of his father H.Y. Meti.

As per the affidavit, he has been acquitted of a case (no. 140/2021) in which he faced some criminal charges, including those under Prevention of Atrocities against SC/STs, in 2023, and has no other cases.

In Davangere South, Congress candidate Samarth Shamanur Mallikarjun, who is facing his first election and trying to retain the seat which was represented by his grandfather Shamanur Shivashankarappa, owns assets worth over ₹4.25 crore, including movable assets worth ₹2.17 crore and agricultural land valued at ₹2.08 crore. He has a degree in management studies from a university in Britain and according to his IT returns, his annual income for 2024-25 was ₹96.05 lakh.

His opponent from BJP, Srinivas T. Dasakariyappa, who is into agriculture and business, owns assets worth over ₹5.76 crore. He owns movable assets worth ₹34.79 lakh and immovable assets worth ₹5.41 crore, including ancestral agricultural land valued at ₹1.13 crore and self-acquired assets worth ₹4.27 crore.