Pallavi Dempo: Goa’s Rich Candidate in Lok Sabha Phase 3

Of the 1,352 candidates contesting in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections, 392 are Crorepatis, according to an analysis by election watchdog, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

As many as 94 Lok Sabha seats across 12 states and Union Territories will go to the polls in the third phase on May 7.

With a declared wealth of ₹1,361 crore, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) South Goa candidate Pallavi Shrinivas Dempo is the richest in the Phase 3 elections. Dempo is followed by Union Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia, who owns ₹424 crore. Scindia is contesting elections from Guna in Madhya Pradesh.

Chhatrapati Shahu Shahaji, the Congress candidate from Maharashtra’s Kolhapur, is the third richest candidate in Phase 3 of Lok Sabha elections. Shahaji has declared a wealth of ₹342 crore in his affidavit.

Luxury cars, apartments in Dubai, London

Dempo is the richest candidate to have ever contested any polls in Goa and the wealthiest among those in the fray in the third phase of polling on May 7 across the country.

Pallavi Dempo, in her 119-page affidavit, has declared assets worth ₹255.44 crore. Her spouse, Shrinivas Dempo, has declared assets of ₹ 998.83 crore. Pallavi Dempo filed her nomination for the South Goa seat on April 16.

Most of the wealth shown in the affidavit is from shareholdings in 81 companies and bonds purchased in some of the top brands and banks. The Dempos have interests in mining, shipbuilding, sports, luxury homes in Dubai and London, luxury cars, jewellery and other investments.

Pallavi Dempo, a member of one of Goa’s prominent business families, is also the BJP’s first-ever woman Lok Sabha candidate in Goa.

Dempo Industires

Pallavi Dempo, the executive director of Dempo Industries Ltd and trustee of Dempo Charities Trust, also oversees the media and real estate vertical of the group. Her husband, Shrinivas Dempo, is the chairman of Dempo Group of Companies.

The group has been in the mining business before diversifying into the real estate, food processing, shipbuilding, newspaper publishing and calcined petroleum coke businesses, according to a report in the Indian Express.

In the controversial electoral bonds data released recently, Shrinivas Dempo had purchased electoral bonds worth ₹1.25 crore in a personal capacity in January 2022 – a month before the Goa Assembly elections. Of this, bonds worth ₹50 lakh were redeemed by the BJP.

Pallavi Dempo formally joined the BJP after her name from the seat was announced earlier this month. She is a Chemistry graduate from Parvatibai Chowgule College, Goa, and has a postgraduate degree in business management (MBA) from MIT, Pune.

The South Goa seat is considered a Congress bastion. The grand old party has won the seat 10 times while the BJP has bagged it twice – in 1999 and 2014.