Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar remains low in the possession of worldly assets, owning much less than most of his Cabinet colleagues and even deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi.
Mr Kumar’s total movable and immovable properties add up to just `46.42 lakhs while his Cabinet has several crorepati ministers.
An old Santro car, an old TV set, an old air-conditioner, a computer, a treadmill, two gold and one silver rings worth `47,000 are part of Mr Kumar’s assets, besides a house in New Delhi’s Sansad Vihar, `31,760 in cash and `57,770 in his bank account. He has no agricultural and non-agricultural land while his son Nishant Kumar, an engineer like his father, owns both kinds of land and is richer than him.
Nishant’s bank accounts have `40.68 lakh and he has bonds worth `1.1 lakh, post office monthly saving of `11.58 lakh and post office recurring deposit of `2.35 lakh.
According to the details of the assets possessed by all the 30 ministers in the Bihar Cabinet, including the chief minister, that have been posted on the government’s website, deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi has deposits worth `10.56 lakh, bonds worth `10.51 lakh and NSC (National Savings Certificate) of `93,000.
Mr Modi’s wife and sons have `28.45 lakh in bank deposits and NSCs worth `5.26 lakh. While Mr Modi’s personal jewellery possessions are valued at `1.52 lakh, that of his family’s is worth `8.45 lakh.
The richest minister is education minister and well-known lawyer P.K. Shahi, who owns agricultural and non-agricultural land at Kushinagar, Deoria, Gorakhpur, Siwan and Gaya valued at `2.75 crore.
Previously Bihar’s advocate general who paid about `20 lakh as income-tax for 2009-10, Mr Shahi has `70 lakh in bank deposits, investments worth `50 lakh and jewellery worth `27 lakh.