TN netas' wealth profile bristles with contrasts

Affidavits filed by Jayalalitha, MK and Vijayakant with nomination papers show striking variations

The prominent trio comprises 87-year-old DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi who filed his papers from Tiruvarur, AIADMK supremo 63-year-old Jayalalitha Jayaram (Srirangam constituency in Tiruchirappalli district) and the 58-year-old actor-founder of DMDK, Azhagarsamy Vijayakant (Rishivandiyam in Villupuram district). All three hit the  campaign trail after formally entering the electoral fray.

Among the three, Vijayakant carries the heaviest financial burden in terms of liabilities along with his wife Premalatha, described as a costume designer in the affidavit filed with his nomination papers. Thanks to appeals pending against claims on his Income-Tax and Wealth Tax returns, Vijayakant, leader of a fledgling DMDK which for the first time has an electoral alliance with the AIADMK, owes the government a whopping Rs.7.53 crore. His wife owes over Rs.1.72 crore. The actor’s other liabilities total nearly Rs2.54 crore.

On the assets side, the approximate market value of Vijayakant’s immovable properties is Rs.10.84 crore.  For the actor alone, they include 61.73 acres of agriculture land in Maduranthakam taluk. About 39.31 acres of arable land there belong to Premalatha.
  
No immovable assets

Karunanidhi’s affidavit shows that he has no immovable assets. His 6,182 sq foot plinth area residence at Gopalapuram in Chennai has been settled in favour of ‘Anjugam Arakkattali’ (a Trust in his Mother’s name) to be used as a hospital after the lifetime of his wife, Dayalu Ammal and himself. He has shown movable assets totalling about Rs.4.93 crore, that include fixed deposits and his 50 per cent share in ‘Anjugam Publications’. It owns a building in Kodambakkam, the premises from which the DMK’s party organ, ‘Murasoli’ is published. Karunanidhi has also shown a total income of Rs.37.34 lakh in his I-T returns for 2009-10.

Interestingly, both his wives, Dayalu Ammal and Rajathi Ammal are richer than him. Their movable assets have been shown as being worth about Rs.15.4 crores and Rs.20.63 crore respectively. While Dayalu’s  assets are worth about Rs.5.23 crore, Rajathi Ammal has immovable property worth over Rs.3.08 crore.

Amma’s ‘unknown quantity’

 Jayalalitha, with movable assets worth Rs 13.03 crore, has in her I-T return for 2009-10 shown a total income of Rs 15.39 lakh. She has shares in ‘Jaya Publications’, ‘Sasi Enterprises’, ‘Kodanad Estate’ and ‘Royal Valley Flori Tech Exports’. Her  immovable assets include  14.5 acres of land in Andhra Pradesh, Poes Garden residence in Chennai and a few other buildings are  valued around Rs. 38.37 crore.