Indian politician assets decreased after Narendra Modi has been elected as Prime minister.
Ask any journalist and they would confess that, in their entire career, they have rarely met such politicians whose net worth reduced after holding a plum post or even after being elected as an MLA, or MP. At last I have never seen one.
There are just a few who live frugally and there are some who live decently. This list includes Goa chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, Tripura CM Manik Sarkar, Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel, Union Minister for Water Resource Development Uma Bharti, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
I would have included AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee as well, but the various scams and lies that surround them makes it almost impossible to do so.
Till now, I have been religiously following the Association for Democratic Reforms to get various kind of statistics on our MLAs and MPs. I have seen multifold rise in the net worth of a sitting MLA or MP. Even MLCs manage to increase their assets after being elected.
I have written headlines, like, “Contest UP elections to get richer”, “It’s raining money in Goa assembly polls” or like “UP sitting MLAs assets grow several folds”.
But, it was refreshing to see a change in the order.
The Economic Times has reported that the net worth of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come down by Rs 40 Lakh since he took oath to the office.
The report said: “The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has disclosed new details that show Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assets have come down by Rs 40 lakh since his last declaration in April.
The asset details as on August 18 say Modi has assets worth Rs 1.26 crore, down from his declaration in April which said he was worth Rs 1.66 crore. The decrease in Modi’s assets is attributable to two factors. One, his bank fixed deposits have reduced from Rs 32.48 lakh in April to Rs 17 lakh. While Modi earlier held 17 FDs, all in the Sachivalaya Branch of SBI in Gandhinagar, he now holds only 11 FDs.”
The report does not end there. It also indicates that there has not been any increase in the assets of union ministers as well. As ET puts it, “The details are similar to their affidavits filed in the recent elections.”
The report has come after Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth had written to all ministers on May 27, a day after the government was sworn in, to file their latest asset returns for the year 2014-15.
Although, I do not have statistics on the assets of ex-PMs and their ministers but one can easily comment on the UPA government’s asset increase. Thanks to the various scams they ran! Also, the National Herald Case has given us much to see clearly. Hence, Modi’s case comes as a good surprise.
The drop in Modi’s assets is attributed to his donation of Rs 21 Lakh from his personal savings for the welfare of girl child of drivers and peons employed in various government offices in Ahmedabad as a parting gift and donations for other welfare works.
Well, this is a welcome change and it indicates that all of Modi’s men are working in tandem on the principle of “Na khaunga, na khaane doonga”.
