Yashwant Sinha, Saurabh Narayan Singh and Rameshwar Oraon

Ranchi, April 7: The days of struggling, socialist politicians are long over. The state is now producing a new breed of crorepati candidates — most of who are in the fray for the first phase of general elections slated for April 16.

Interestingly, three of the five richest candidates contesting the Lok Sabha elections come from the not-so-rich district of Hazaribagh. Jharkhand Vikas Morcha’s B.K. Jaiswal tops the list. Jaiswal is the owner of collective property worth Rs 14.68 crore. It includes immovable property to the tune of Rs 12.17 crore owned by him and another Rs 27.53 lakh owned by his wife.

BJP senior leader and former foreign minister Yashwant Sinha, also contesting from Hazaribagh, has assets worth Rs 6.24 crore, less than half of that of Jaiswal.

According to an affidavit, Sinha’s property list includes a plot in Noida worth Rs 3 crore and another worth Rs 1.5 crore in Demotarn, Hazaribagh. He also has investments in financial institutions to the tune of Rs 57.66 lakh. Apart from this, he owns jewellery worth Rs 2.8 lakh and four vehicles, including a Scorpio.

Sinha’s main rival and Congress candidate Saurabh Narayan Singh has declared property to the tune of Rs 2.53 crore. The affidavit submitted by Singh along with his nomination paper shows that his immovable property in Hazaribagh, Patna and Delhi is worth Rs 77.74 lakh.

Movable property of the Congress candidate includes jewellery worth Rs 39 lakh and some extra baubles here and there worth Rs 20.79 lakh owned by his wife. Singh also has Rs 24 lakh in the form of bank deposits, shares and insurance policies that are either owned by him or his wife.

These rich leaders, however, insist that it is not their property that draws votes, but “sheer hard work”. “The development that I have brought about for the people of my region is my real asset. The wealth shown in the affidavit is not going to help me win the elections,” Singh told The Telegraph.

Former police officer-turned-politician Rameshwar Oraon, contesting from the Lohardaga seat, is also a crorepati and probably the richest man among tribal candidates in the state. He too, insists that his wealth is not going to help him win. “Wealth is not a factor,” he said.

Oraon owns collective property worth Rs 2.7 crore, including immovable property worth Rs 83.31 lakh in Ranchi and Rs 22 lakh worth of property in Lohardaga.

Denied an RJD ticket this time, Dhirendra Agarwal is now contesting as an Independent. Agarwal’s affidavit declares that he owns property worth 1.94 crore and has 5,206gm of gold in his lockers.