Assets of 71 MPs grew by 286 pc since 2009: ADR report
New Delhi, Feb 3: The assets of 71 MPs, who were re-elected to the Lok Sabha between 2009 and 2019, grew by a whopping 286 per cent on an average and the highest increase was recorded by the BJP's Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi, according to a report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on Friday.
The total worth of Jigajinagi's assets, which was about Rs 1.18 crore in 2009, went up to Rs 8.94 crore in 2014 and further to Rs 50.41 crore in 2019, registering an overall increase of 4,189 per cent, the report noted, referring to the self-sworn affidavits submitted by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader during the Lok Sabha elections held in the respective years.
Re-elected to the Lower House of Parliament for a sixth consecutive term in 2019, the MP from Karnataka's Bijapur served as the Union minister of state for drinking water and sanitation from July 2016 to May 2019 in the previous term of the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to the report by ADR-National Election Watch, another BJP MP from Karnataka, PC Mohan, grabbed the second spot in the list of the top 10 members of Parliament who registered an increase in their assets between 2009 and 2019.
Mohan, who was re-elected to the Lok Sabha from the Bengaluru Central constituency in 2019, had declared assets worth about Rs 5.37 crore in the 2009 parliamentary polls. The figure climbed up to Rs 75.55 crore in 10 years, showing an increase of 1,306 per cent, the report noted.
The assets of BJP MP Varun Gandhi, who was re-elected from Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit for a third consecutive term in the last Lok Sabha election, rose from Rs 4.92 crore in 2009 to Rs 60.32 crore in 2019, the report noted.
According to the report, the assets of Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the Shiromani Akali Dal MP from Bhathinda, went up from Rs 60.31 crore in 2009 to Rs 217.99 crore in 2019, registering a rise of 261 per cent.
"Assets of Supriya Sadanand Sule of the NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) from the Baramati constituency (in Maharashtra) have increased by Rs 89.35 crore (173 per cent), from Rs 51.53 crore in 2009 to Rs 140.88 crore in 2019," the report said.
The assets of Pinaki Misra, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP from Puri in Odisha, climbed by 296 per cent (Rs 87.78 crore), from Rs 29.69 crore in 2009 to Rs 117.47 crore in 2019, the report added.
It noted that the average assets of the 71 MPs, including independents, was Rs 6.15 crore in 2009.
The report pegged the average growth in their assets from 2009 to 2019 at Rs 17.59 crore, an increase of 286 per cent.
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Wayanad aid memorandum: Kerala CM slams media for "destructive journalism"
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday slammed a section of the media for allegedly spreading "fake news" about the memorandum prepared by the state government for central aid in the context of the Wayanad landslide disaster, terming it "destructive journalism."
"What is happening in Kerala is destructive journalism. A section of the media has turned into factories for creating controversies," Vijayan said at a press conference.
The Chief Minister said that Kerala has been discredited due to the fake news.
He alleged that after the media spread false information, a fake narrative emerged, claiming that Kerala was attempting to unfairly grab aid.
"The opposition also seized upon these reports. The aim behind these stories was to discredit the state government by any means," Vijayan added.
The CM clarified that it is not the ministers who prepare the memorandum in the wake of a disaster, but rather professionals who have proven expertise in the field.
He said that the media had misinterpreted the data prepared by these experts.
The figures in the memorandum are not exaggerated, but are projected estimates, he added.
