Nagaraj, currently an MLC, was among the 17 rebels who jumped ship from the Congress to the BJP in 2019. He won from Hoskote constituency in Bangalore Rural district on a Congress ticket in 2018 but lost the 2019 bypoll on a BJP ticket. He is contesting again for the saffron party in 2023.

While Nagaraj’s movable assets, including cash in hand, money in bank accounts and loans provided to various firms and individuals, are worth Rs 372.42 crore, he owns Rs 30.02 crore worth agricultural land, Rs 355.51 crore worth non-agricultural land, Rs 356.01 crore worth commercial buildings and Rs 798.38 crore worth residential buildings. For the 2018 Assembly polls, he had declared assets worth Rs 1,060 crore, which had increased to around Rs 1,220 crore when he filed the nomination for MLC polls in 2020.

Another prominent politician who has declared assets in excess of Rs 1,000 crore is Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar. His total assets are worth Rs 1,214 crore, up from Rs 721.56 crore in 2018.

Embroiled in various I-T and ED cases, Shivakumar has buried these cases under a list of cases filed against him during the recent protests against the state and central governments in his affidavit. The eight I-T, ED cases and summons were below the 11 cases registered for Mekedatu padayatra and other protests, with the most recent case being the allegations of bribing voters in Mandya where he was purportedly seen throwing a bunch of currency notes.

Cases registered for protests were part of election affidavits of other Congress leaders such as Ramalinga Reddy, Priyank Kharge and NA Haris too.

Of the declared wealth of Shivakumar, movable assets are worth Rs 244.93 crore, while immovable assets are worth Rs 970.01 crore. Despite 19 cases against him, he is yet to be convicted in any.

Former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy is poorer than his legislator wife Anitha Kumaraswamy as per details submitted in the affidavit. While Kumaraswamy is worth Rs 46.57 crore, his wife is worth Rs 134.72 crore. Anitha, who represents Ramanagar constituency, has vacated the seat for her son Nikhil Kumaraswamy, an actor-turned-politician who lost to Sumalatha Ambareesh from Mandya in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. He is worth Rs 74.81 crore, while his wife Revathi is worth Rs 30.15 crore.

Congress MLA NA Haris, who represents Shantinagar constituency, has a total wealth of Rs 397.29 crore. Senior Congress legislator Shamanur Shivashankarappa, the 92-year-old contesting from Davanagere South constituency, is worth Rs 292.83 crore while Santosh Lad, the Congress candidate from Kalghatgi in Dharwad district, is worth Rs 129.9 crore. The total assets of Congress campaign committee chairman MB Patil are Rs 102.88 crore and the assets of KPCC working president Ramalinga Reddy are worth Rs 79.3 crore.

Among the richest women candidates in the fray is the wife of Gali Janardhan Reddy, G Lakshmi Arun. Reddy floated Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha and fielded his wife from Bellary city. Her combined assets total Rs 200.61 crore. She will contest against her brother-in-law BJP’s Somashekara Reddy whose total worth is Rs 47.06 crore as per his affidavit.

Candidates with a net worth exceeding Rs 100 crore include BJP vice president BY Vijayendra, having declared movable and immovable assets worth Rs 103.39 cr. He is the second son of BJP Parliamentary Board member B S Yediyurappa and is contesting from Shikaripur constituency in Shimoga district. BJP’s Bommanahalli MLA Satish Reddy is worth Rs 105.88 crore.

K Poornima, who is the BJP candidate from Hiriyur constituency, is worth Rs 75.68 crore as per her election affidavit.