Patna, May 31: Lawyer Ram Jethmalani, with assets worth Rs 65 crore, is the richest among the five crorepati candidates fielded by the JDU, the RJD and the BJP who are set to enter the Rajya Sabha unopposed from Bihar.
Jethmalani (92) filed his nomination papers as an RJD candidate. He owns movable assets worth around 59 crore, - including cash, bank deposits, mutual funds and bonds - as per the affidavit submitted to the Election Commission. He has declared a house each in Gurgaon, Mumbai and Pune, a Rolex watch worth Rs 5 lakh and 60gm of gold jewellery. He filed Rs 3.81 crore income tax returns for the financial year 2014-15. He has no vehicles in his name, no debts, but has given a loan of Rs 3 crore to an acquaintance in New Delhi.
In 2010, while contesting Rajya Sabha elections on a BJP ticket from Rajasthan, he had declared assets worth Rs 29.6 crore. Which means in six years his wealth has grown around 120 per cent.
BJP leader Gopal Narayan Singh (74) is in second position among the Bihar Rajya Sabha candidates in terms of riches. He is worth Rs 43 crore, including movable and immovable assets registered in the name of his wife, Shail.
Gopal, who is from Rohtas district, is a veteran politician with interests in stone quarrying and contractual works. He and his wife run a medical college in Sasaram under the aegis of Deo Mangal Memorial Trust. Gopal and his wife filed income tax returns of Rs 8.23 lakh and Rs 11.1 lakh, respectively, for financial year 2014-15. Gopal, an ex-MLA, has half a kilo of gold jewellery, while his wife has 1.75 kg of gold ornaments. He faces over a dozen cases related to illegal quarrying and unsatisfactory work as a contractor. He is also embroiled in several civil cases.
Veteran JDU leader Sharad Yadav (68) has assets worth Rs 7.44 crore, including assets owned by his wife, Rekha Yadav, who is a social and political activist. He filed Rs 6.82 lakh income tax returns in 2014-15. He has Rs 45,000 cash, 100gm of gold jewellery and 2kg of silverware, while his wife has 400gm of gold jewellery and 2kg of silverware.
Sharad, an electrical engineer who has represented Bihar in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Madhepura but lost to Pappu Yadav. A month later, Sharad was elected in the Rajya Sabha by-elections. He and his wife own around 10 acres of land worth around 6.16 crore in Madhya Pradesh's Hoshangabad, but don't own a car.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad's eldest daughter Misa Bharti (41) has movable and immovable assets worth Rs 6.47 crore including those in the name of her husband, Shailesh Kumar, and daughters Durga and Gauri. Her wealth has grown by around 40 per cent in just two years; in 2014 when she contested the Lok Sabha polls unsuccessfully from Patliputra constituency, her assets were worth Rs 4.72 crore.
Misa, an MBBS by education, has 750 gm of gold ornaments worth Rs 21 lakh, 2kg of silver utensils worth Rs 80,000, and precious gems worth Rs 2.5 lakh. Her husband has 700 gm of gold jewellery worth Rs 19.6 lakh and precious stones worth Rs 1 lakh. Misa has 6.5 acres of agricultural land in her name, her husband has 8.5 acres, and daughters Durga and Gauri have 2.5 acres and 2 acres respectively. They also have non-agricultural land in Patna and Muzaffarpur. Misa's husband owns a .32 bore pistol and 10 cartridges.
Ramchandra Prasad Singh, a former Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer who is one of the two JDU candidates to the Rajya Sabha, and his wife, Girija Singh, have assets worth Rs 2.73 crore. Most of their wealth is in form of deposits in banks, bonds, national saving certificates and provident fund deposits. Girija owns 480 gm of gold jewellery worth Rs 13.28 lakh and 4.8kg of silverware. The couple have no car in their name. Ramchandra has two double-barrel guns, including one inherited from his father, and a .315 bore rifle. He also has three refrigerators, four air-conditioners, two televisions and four laptops.
