‘Honestly honest’?

The declared assets of the MPs in the magazine¿s cover story are not the same as that mentioned in their affidavits for the General Elections, 2004. The cover story makes no mention of the source of the data declaring the assets of the 12 MPs (They only hint that the data is from official government sources) Even if we go by the details of the declared assets of these political leaders in their affidavits for election to the House of People, there is disparity in the figures.

The candidates contesting for election to the House of People are required to furnish this affidavit along with their nomination paper. It contains details of their assets - movable, immovable, bank balance etc. of themselves, their spouse and dependants.

Krishna Teerath, Congress MP from Delhi according to the TSI report has an asset of Rs 468,981.  As per the declaration in her affidavit for the Lok Sabha election, 2004, Krishna Teerath¿s Movable asset amount to Rs 10, 53,996. The TSI report has just added up the MP¿s cash and her deposit in bank and financial institution. The report has preferred to ignore her jewelry of Rs 5,6,049 which also falls into the Movable assets of an individual.

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The report poignantly points out that the MP "prefers the bus travelling to Kalka Mandir from Karol Bagh". It needs to be mentioned here that Krishna Teerath also owns a residential plot at Gurgaon in HUDA sector 21 whose current market value is Rs 10 lakh, a point that the report conveniently misses.

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Similar is the case with the report about Girdhari Lal Bhargava, BJP, MP from Rajasthan. His declared asset is Rs 11, 63,490. This is a factually correct figure as far as the MP¿s Movable asset is concerned. The report points out that he lives in "winding narrow bylanes of  Purani Basti in Jaipur. But the fact that he owns Agricultural land at Sanganer with a current Market value of Rs 7 lakh is equally true. Besides, his personal house at Purani Basti, Jaipur has a current market value of Rs 48 lakh. This is excluding his two other houses that he declares as inherited from his father and which have a current market value of Rs 65 lakh.

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Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, RJD MP from Bihar has a Movable asset of Rs 1,33,185 in his affidavit for election to the House of Peoples, 2004. The report in TSI however mentions that this Member of Parliament has an asset of Rs 94, 000. The report says that he is making a house in Patna, but with a bank loan of Rs 2.5 lakh. It fails to mention that the MP already owns a building at Kautilya Nagar, Patna which has a current market value of Rs 10 lakh and that he owns agricultural land worth Rs 36, 69, 200.

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Quite ironically, this "honestly honest politician" (According to TSI) had outstanding dues of Rs 92, 271 with the water supply department of New Delhi Municipal Corporation as on 31.03.2004 when he filed his nomination for election to the House of People. [source.link]

Even the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited, New Delhi, had dues worth Rs 1, 50, 210 on this Member of Parliament as per his Affidavit. There is possibility that the due would have added some more thousands on the amount by now.

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Even in the case of the other MPs, The Sunday Indian¿s Cover story conveniently picks up what suits its report. The other important facts about the persona of the MPs do not find a place in the report.

Nevertheless, honesty and frugal existence alone cannot be a determent of the success of a political figure. The development of their constituencies and their achievements are also vital factors that make a successful politician. A report is complete only if it is able to list all these factors in an objective way. The rest is for the readers to decide.

Contact: conciousdipu@gmail.com