Leema Rose, wife of Lottery King Santiago Martin, has filed her nomination from the Lalgudi constituency as an AIADMK candidate, making her the richest contender in the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly elections.
In her election affidavit, Leema Rose declared an income of Rs 9.82 crore for 2024-25. Her husband, Santiago Martin, declared an income of Rs 11.39 crore, while their son Jose Daison Martin declared Rs 19.56 crore.
The affidavit reveals that Leema Rose holds movable assets worth Rs 139.62 crore and immovable assets of Rs 909.94 crore. Santiago Martin's movable and immovable assets are Rs 3,262.01 crore and Rs 887.36 crore, respectively, and Jose Daison Martin has movable assets of Rs 225.56 crore and immovable assets of Rs 439.21 crore. Leema Rose's educational qualification is Class VI.
This announcement comes amid a heated political campaign in Tamil Nadu ahead of polling on April 23, with results expected on May 4.
The main electoral contest is anticipated between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), which includes Congress, DMDK, and the VCK, and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by AIADMK with allies the BJP and Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). Actor-turned-politician Vijay is making his electoral debut with TVK, aiming to create a three-way contest.
On Sunday, Union Minister and BJP Tamil Nadu election in-charge Piyush Goyal expressed confidence in the NDA’s victory in the state. He said, “A superb campaign has started. Tomorrow, all our candidates will be filing the nomination and there is a lot of enthusiasm on the ground. We will certainly defeat anti-Tamil Nadu, anti-India forces of DMK and Congress and NDA will emerge as victorious, forming the next government in Tamil Nadu and serving the people of the state with welfare and development…”