Sonia Gandhi and Smriti Irani on Thursday filed their nominations for the Lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli and Amethi constituencies, respectively. In their election affidavits, Sonia Gandhi declared a 45 per cent drop in her income in 2017-18 compared to 2013-14, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Smriti Irani’s income increased roughly an 80 per cent increase in her income in the same time span.

It should be noted though, Smriti Irani has declared her income and assets as of March 31, 2018, whereas Sonia Gandhi’s declarations are made as of March 31, 2019.

While Sonia Gandhi’s income in 2017-18 stood at Rs 9,61,700 compared with Rs 17,60,032 as per her affidavit, Smriti Irani declared income of Rs 46,59,714 for the year 2017-18 in comparison to Rs 25,65,610 in 2013-14.

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The two leaders at the same time, who held roadshows in the respective constituencies before filing the nomination, declared a surge in their assets from the previous Lok Sabha elections. Sonia Gandhi’s total assets saw an 27 per cent jump to Rs 11.82 crore from Rs 9.28 crore in 2014. Even among these, Sonia Gandhi’s movable assets increased from Rs 2.81 crore in 2014 to Rs 4.29 crore in 2019, whereas her immovable assets reached Rs 7.52 crore in 2019 from Rs 6.47 crore in 2014.

Smriti Irani’s total assets on the other hand, saw only a 13 per cent spike from the previous elections, going from Rs 4.14 crore in 2014 to Rs 4.71 crore in 2018. This included an increase in movable assets to Rs 1.75 crore in 2019 from Rs 1.36 crore in 2014. Her immovable assets have gone up to Rs 2.95 crore in 2018 from Rs 2.78 crore in 2014. However, while Irani had declared liabilities worth Rs 70,000, she hasn’t reported any liabilities in her lateest affidavits.