Congress candidate Venkataramane Gowda, popularly known as 'Star Chandru', emerged as the richest candidate with assets over Rs 622 crore in Phase 2, as per a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Gowda, with an annual income of Rs 16.28 crore, surpassed DK Suresh, the wealthiest candidate in the 2019 elections in Karnataka. His wife Kusuma has movable and immovable properties valued at Rs 329.32 crore, as per the affidavit filed.
According to the ADR, Venkataramane Gowda has declared Rs 2,12,78,08,148 as movable assets and Rs 4,10,19,20,693 as immovable assets, totaling Rs 6,22,97,28,841 as his total assets.
He doesn't possess any agricultural land, but the value of his other properties amounts to Rs 237.11 crore. As for Kusuma, her movable assets total Rs 182.33 crore, with Rs 176.44 crore invested in Star Infratech, a company managed by Gowda. Additionally, she owns 4.2 kg of gold valued at Rs 2.29 crore. Gowda has a liability of Rs 15.66 crore.
Venkataramane, a contractor by profession, is the brother of KH Puttaswamy Gowda, an Independent MLA from Gauribidanur, who is currently aligned with the Congress party. He is a BSc graduate from Bangalore University.
The Mandya seat in the Old Mysuru region has become a high-stakes battle with JDS state president HD Kumaraswamy contesting as the NDA nominee against the Congress' wealthy contractor Venkataramane Gowda, while deputy CM DK Shivakumar has made the contest personal, urging voters to choose the Congress party to strengthen his chances at the CM office.
Low sugarcane yields and water shortages has proved to be the contentious issues that has plagued Mandya for quite sometime. Some members of the farmer organizations in the district feel disappointed by the government's handling of the Cauvery crisis, which they perceive as mismanagement. Sugarcane production in the state is projected to be 520 lakh tonnes this year, down from about 750 lakh tonnes last year.