Guwahati, April 3: If riches can be the passport to Parliament, then Congress nominee Kirip Chaliha is streets ahead of his opponents and should get to the august house from Guwahati.
Going by the affidavits filed by the candidates for the Guwahati parliamentary seat, Chaliha enjoys a definite edge over some of his opponents like singer Bhupen Hazarika (BJP), former home minister Bhrigu Kumar Phukan (AGP) and Deven Dutta (Trinamul Gana Parishad) insofar as assets are concerned. Assets include both moveable and immovable ones. Dutta, incidentally, was Chaliha’s teacher in college.
The affidavits are required to be filed according to directions of the Election Commission. These are put up on bulletin boards in the offices of the returning officers for public view.
Strange though it may seem, Hazarika does not even have a car that he can call his own. He does not have a house either in Guwahati. The other three are more fortunate in matters of wheels and houses in the state capital.
Chaliha, a former Member of Parliament, has three flats in New Delhi including one in the name of his wife, which together are valued at Rs 32.5 lakh. His spouse Romani Chaliha also owns a residential building worth Rs 46 lakh at Zoo Narengi Tinali. These apart, he has six kathas of agricultural land worth Rs 3 lakh at Jalukbari.
The 78-year old balladeer and BJP’s “diamond”, Hazarika’s fixed assets include 50 per cent ownership right each on a plot of land at Lonavala in Maharashtra, a godown in Mumbai, a residence-cum-office at Calcutta and a residence-cum-office at Andheri (West), Mumbai. Total value of these assets, according to the affidavit, is Rs 32.5 lakh. The affidavit is silent on who owns the other 50 per cent.
Phukan does not have any house or land in his name. His wife Indira Phukan, though, owns a plot of land worth Rs 5 lakh at Ramchai Hills in the heart of the city. The two-storey house on this plot of land is valued at Rs 17 lakh.
On the other hand, Dutta, who is a renowned consumer rights activist, owns two kathas of land with a house at Sundarpur, each valued at Rs 6 lakh.
Chaliha may be ahead of Hazarika and the others in the immovable assets category, but the music maestro enjoys slightly more liquidity. While Chaliha, his wife and his dependant are worth a little over Rs 9.62 lakh, Hazarika sits prettier at approximately Rs 11.43 lakh.
But then Chaliha has a Maruti Zen to ride even though it is in his wife’s name and 150 grams of gold — “old” — to boot. Hazarika has neither gold nor jewellery.
Phukan’s, his wife’s and his dependant’s moveable assets are tied up mostly in the NSC, Kisan Vikas Patra and the LIC. The total value of these is Rs 11.60 lakh. He drives a Maruti Wagon R. Like Phukan, Dutta appears to place more faith in the NSC apart from postal savings. His total savings including that of his spouse is Rs 10.97 lakh. Dutta owns a Fiat Padmini car and a Kinetic gearless scooter.
