CHENNAI: As new members are set to occupy the State Assembly, an Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) analysis revealed that DMK has the highest number of the richest legislators.
Of the 59 MLAs elected from DMK, 57 have declared assets worth over Rs 1 crore, taking the total to 97 per cent. In its rival Dravidian party, AIADMK, 44 of the 47 elected representatives (94 per cent) have assets worth over Rs 1 crore and in the TVK 77 of 107 MLAs (72 per cent) fall in the same category.
Party-wise, average assets declared by AIADMK winning candidates stand at Rs 152.89 crore. TVK’s average assets are of Rs 27.09 crore, while DMK winners are Rs 14.34 crore. AIADMK’s Lalgudi MLA Leemarose Martin declared assets exceeding Rs 5,863 crore, the highest among all. Her declaration alone accounts for around 52 per cent of the total declared assets of all 233 MLAs, which collectively stand at around Rs 11,265 crore.
Excluding her declaration, the average assets of the remaining 46 AIADMK winners would reduce from around Rs 152 crore to approximately Rs 28.7 crore.
Other AIADMK legislators with high-value declarations include Ambasamudram MLA Dr Esakki Subaya with assets exceeding Rs 419 crore, Kangayam MLA NSN Nataraj with over Rs 99 crore, Hosur MLA Balakrishnareddy P with over Rs 98 crore, Palani MLA Ravimanoharan K with more than Rs 96 crore, and Cheyyur MLA Rajasekar E with assets exceeding Rs 68 crore.
Among the state’s wealthiest winning candidates, TVK president C Joseph Vijay declared assets exceeding Rs 648 crore, while TVK’s Aadhav Arjuna declared more than Rs 534 crore. The DMK’s highest asset declaration came from Pollachi MLA K Nithyanandhan, whose affidavit lists assets exceeding Rs 170 crore.
At the other end of the list, Ranipet MLA Thahira of the TVK declared assets worth Rs 33,000, the lowest among all analysed winners. Perambalur (SC) MLA Sivakumar K of the TVK declared Rs 1,96,106 in assets. CPI’s Marimuthu K from Thiruthuraipoondi (SC), who declared assets worth Rs 7,16,326, is the only non-TVK MLA in the poorest 10 list.
The lowest declared asset values within the DMK and AIADMK are substantially higher. Among DMK winners, only two legislators declared assets below Rs 1 crore Kulithalai MLA Suriyanur A Chandran with Rs 80,80,356 and Valparai (SC) MLA Kutty alias Sudhakar A with Rs 87,34,911. Tenkasi MLA Dr Kalai Kathiravan of the DMK, with assets worth Rs 1,25,49,465, is the lowest among the DMK’s crorepati winners.
Within the AIADMK, Sankarapuram MLA Rakesh R declared assets worth Rs 61,40,400, Gangavalli (SC) MLA Nallathambi A declared Rs 79,16,039 and Harur (SC) MLA Sampathkumar. V declared Rs 81,09,134. Veteran and Vedaranyam MLA OS Manian declared assets worth Rs 2,24,61,605.
TVK accounts for nine of the 10 poorest candidates who won in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections and 10 of the 11 youngest legislators in the new House.
A total of 49 winning candidates, or 21 per cent of the analysed winners, are aged 40 or younger. This includes seven MLAs aged between 25 and 30, and 42 MLAs aged between 31 and 40.
Some younger legislators have also declared serious criminal cases. TVK’s Polur legislator Abishek R, aged 30, declared one serious IPC case relating to causing death by negligence, while Virudhunagar MLA Selvam P, aged 31, also declared one serious IPC case
