Candidates for Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency Poojary and Hegde neither have criminal cases against them nor have been convicted in any case

The candidates from the BJP and the Congress file nomination papers from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency

K. Jayaprakash Hegde at a public meeting in Udupi before filing his nomination papers as the Congress candidate for Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: UMESH S. SHETTIGAR 

Kota Shrinivas Poojary and K. Jayaprakash Hegde, the candidates of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress for the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency, neither face any criminal case nor have undergone conviction in any trial.

The affidavits submitted by the two while filing their nomination papers with the Returning Officer and the Udupi District Deputy Commissioner K. Vidyakumari at Manipal on Wednesday, revealed that the candidates do not have any criminal antecedent.

Poojary worth Rs. 2.94 crore

Mr. Poojary, 64, who has been a MLC since 2009, a Minister thrice, and presently Leader of the Opposition in the Council, is worth ₹2.94 crore. He, along with his wife, two daughters, and a son, owns moveable assets worth ₹64.2 lakh and immoveable assets worth ₹2.3 crore.

Kota Shrinivas Poojary files his nomination papers as the BJP candidate for Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency in Udupi on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The immoveable assets include a 4,770 sqft house built upon 13 cents of land in Giliyar village near Kota in the name of his wife Shantha. Mr. Poojary along with dependents has liabilities worth ₹1.04 crore, including ₹40 lakh loan in his name and ₹35 lakh housing loan in his wife’s name.

₹14.17 cr worth immoveable assets

Mr. Hegde, 71, a three-time MLA, a Minister and a Lok Sabha member once, is worth ₹15.34 crore, including moveable assets worth ₹1.16 crore jointly with his wife. He has residential houses in his native village Korgi in Kundapura taluk as well as in Bengaluru. About half of Mr. Hegde’s moveable assets are inherited by his father, the affidavit said.

Nominations filed

Mr. Poojary filed the nomination papers along with the JD(S) MLC S.L. Bhoje Gowda, the BJP leader C.T. Ravi and the BJP MLAs Yashpal Suvarna and Gurme Suresh Shetty before the Returning Officer at Rajatadri, the district office complex in Manipal.

Prior to filing the papers, he attended a party workers’ meeting that was addressed, among others, by Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal in Udupi.

Mr. Hegde filed his papers along with Energy Minister K.J. George, former ministers Vinay Kumar Sorake and Motamma and Chikkamagaluru district Congress president Amshumanth.

He addressed a party workers’ meeting at Udupi before filing the papers.