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People
of India have now access of the assets, at least
of the white portion, of the rulers of India
courtesy the rules of Election Commission. Every
candidate for both the houses at the center and
the state are to file an affidavit giving one’s
asset and its worth, beside his educational
qualification and some other details. Since last
two days, Mayawati’s wealth is on the front page
of a national daily that claims to have the
largest circulation. Mayawati’s declaration of
her latest assets came in affidavit that is
accessible to the people.
According to the affidavit, she does not own a
car, agricultural or non-agricultural land. But
she owns ‘‘commercial and residential space’’.
The CM’s assets, are: Cash: Rs 50.27 lakh;
Deposits in banks, financial institutions and
non-banking financial companies: Rs 12.88 lakh;
Jewellery: Rs 50.87 lakh; Diamonds: 380.17
carat: Rs 49.75 lakh; a 18.5-kg silver dinner
set costing Rs 1.12 lakh; murals worth Rs 15
lakh; two commercial establishments in Connaught
Place, New Delhi, priced at Rs 2.05 crore and Rs
1.27 crore and another commercial establishment
at Okhla which is priced at Rs 15.50 crore.
Lucknow residence is shown at Nehru Road in the
Cantonment priced Rs 97.42 lakh; Delhi residence
on Sardar Patel Marg priced Rs 18.02 crore.
Mayawati today clarified that all her assets
have come from small donations from the
thousands of her party members. She has also
paid the required taxes, so this is all legal.
Is it not a lucrative way of becoming crorepati?
Should she become the model for our young Dalit
friends and emulated? It will be interesting to
know what the top judiciary opines.
For the record, the other crorepati politicians,
as reported in media based on their affidavits
with the Election Commission, are Manmohan Singh
(Rs 4 crore), Sharad Pawar (1.3 crore plus 1.6
crore of wife), L. K. Advani (1.1 crore plus
17.7 lakh of wife), Chandrababu Naidu (1.6 crore
plus 19.3 crore of wife), O. P. Chautala, the
former CM of Haryana (4.8 crore plus 1.32 crore
of wife), Vilasrao Deshmukh (Rs. 3.3 crore), M.
Karunanidhi (Rs 26.5 crore), and Jayalalithaa
(Rs 24.6 crore).
Mulayam Yadav is worth only Rs 3 crore plus
additional Rs 77 lakh with his wife Sadhana),
though Rajat Sharma in his popular ‘Aapki Adalat’
used to talk of very huge amount. As already
reported, the present CM of Punjab Barnala’s
assets are huge, some claiming as high as Rs
1000 crore or more. Surprisingly, Sonia Gandhi
(81 Lakh), Lalu Prasad (23.8 lakh plus Rs 37
lakh of wife Rabri Devi plus Rs 29 lakh for
children), Atal Bihari Bajpayee are all sort of
a crore. Should the figure provided to EC be
believed? Will their actual worth be very much
more than the figures provided in affidavits? I
don’t know what are the value of the assets
owned by Nitish Kumar and Budhadev Bhattacharya.
Are they the Kamraj and Lal Bahadur Shastri
class?
Except for perhaps Manmohan Singh none might
have earned through their professional career.
Mawayati started her career as a teacher in a
Delhi administration school, and then she did
her law too, but she has grown rich through
politics. Mayawati at least openly confesses.
Again hardly, these politicians have inherited
the assets that have grown. Mayawati’s father
worked in the department of post, and has
retired as a senior clerk. The family lives in
Inderpuri in Delhi. To be frank, I don’t know
about other political leaders. Neither have I
researched.
Many TV channels made the news an important one
today. But will it carry any negative message to
the masses who vote them to power. As some
thinkers feel, at least the followers of
Mayawati take it as an achievement of a Dalit?
Perhaps, the news will certainly make the others
in business of politics greedier and more
corrupt.
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