At ₹118 crore, Jayalalithaa’s assets up ₹1 crore from 2015

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa has declared total assets (both movable and immovable) of ₹118 crore, up by nearly ₹1 crore declared during the by-poll last year.

She declared her assets in an affidavit that she filed along with her nomination papers from the RK Nagar constituency in north Chennai, for the May 16 assembly elections. Jayalalithaa is seeking re-election from this constituency, which she won in a by-election last year, after which she returned as Chief Minister. Monday was considered an auspicious day according to the Hindu calendar.

Clad in a dark green sari and accompanied by her friend Sasikala, Jayalalithaa arrived at the Chennai Corporation’s Zonal Office 4 in Tondiarpet at 12.21 pm and went into the building to hand over the nomination papers to Returning Officer TN Padmaja Devi.

Jayalalithaa came out smiling within five minutes showing victory sign to the large number of party cadres who had assembled since morning. She slowly moved a few steps towards the large contingent of mediapersons, smiled and showed a victory sign but did not speak to the media. She left waving to party cadres who erupted in joy.

Senior party leaders, including O Panneerselvam and Natham Viswanathan, welcomed Jayalalithaa on her arrival.

Jayalalithaa’s rival candidates in the constituency are Shimla Muthuchozhan of DMK, P Agnes of PMK and Vasanthi Devi of VCK.

AIADMK cadres braved the searing heat and waited for over an hour to see their leader. When a policeman asked an elderly person to move to the shade, he replied, “I don’t mind the heat. I just want to see Amma.” Karuna, a former employee of the Chennai Metro Water, felt it would be a cakewalk for Jayalalithaa.

In a short span of time, the CM had ensured better infrastructure and improved industrial climate in adjacent places like Tiruvottiyur and Manali to help generate employment for people in RK Nagar, she said.

RK Nagar could be a safe bet for Jayalalithaa considering that it one of the smaller constituencies with women voters outnumbering men, as per the last electoral rolls.

In the 2011 Assembly elections, P Vetrivel of AIADMK defeated PK Sekarbabu of DMK by 31,255 votes. He resigned in 2015 to enable Jayalalithaa to contest after her conviction by a special court in Bengaluru on corruption was set aside by the Karnataka High Court.

Jayalalithaa had won from Srirangam in 2011 but had to resign her seat following her conviction. She returned as Chief Minister last May by wining RK Nagar by-poll by a margin of 1.50 lakh votes, defeating her nearest rival C Mahendran of the CPI.

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