Balbir Singh Verma, an independent candidate from Chopal constituency in Himachal Pradesh, has declared the highest income among all candidates -- Rs. 1.41 crore -- in his income tax returns, according to a report prepared by the Himachal Pradesh Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms.
Verma is followed by Congress leader G S Bali from Nagrota constituency who has declared an income of Rs. 1.12 crore and Sanjay Kumar Guleria, an independent candidate from Jawali constituency who has declared an income of Rs 62.99 lakh, as per their IT returns.
As many as 163 candidates of the 445 candidates analysed by the Himachal Pradesh Election Watch have declared that they have never filed income tax returns.
The Bahujan Samaj Party has 40 such candidates, Bharatiya Janata Party has 11 candidates, Himachal Lokhit Party has 13 candidates, Trinamool Congress has 11 candidates and Congress has two such candidates.
The three candidates with maximum assets who have never filed IT returns are Communist Party of India Marxist leader Rakesh Singh with total assets of Rs. 17.28 crore, independent candidate Vijay Jayoti with assets of Rs. 7.23 crore and CPM candidate Tikender Panwar with Rs. 3.05 crore respectively.