With assets of Rs.1,000cr, Jaya Bachchan could become richest MP
What's the story
Jaya Bachchan, Samajwadi Party MP from Uttar Pradesh, recently filed her nomination for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls in the state. What's noteworthy is her declaration: she announced assets worth Rs. 1,000cr, and could well be India's richest MP. Till date, the record is held by BJP's Ravindra Kishore Sinha, with assets worth Rs. 800cr. Voting in the polls is scheduled for March 23.
Profile
A glimpse into Jaya Bachchan's rise in politics
Bachchan entered the political scene in 2004, when she became a Rajya Sabha MP from Samajwadi. After that, she was re-elected in June 2006, and then again in 2012 for a third term. The last time she filed nomination, she declared assets worth Rs. 493cr, including movable assets worth Rs. 343cr and immovable assets worth Rs. 152cr.
Assets
Bachchans' assets include luxury cars, gold, watches and a pen!
According to her latest affidavit, the Bachchans now have movable assets worth Rs. 540cr and immovable assets worth Rs. 460cr. Among their movable assets are gold and jewelry (Rs. 62cr), 12 vehicles including a Rolls-Royce, a Porsche and a tractor (Rs. 13cr), watches (Rs. 4cr) and a pen (Rs. 9L), TOI reports. They also own properties in France, Noida, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Gandhinagar and elsewhere.
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Previous and current record-holders
In 2014, Ravindra Sinha became the richest Rajya Sabha MP, with own assets worth Rs. 564cr; his spouse's assets were valued at Rs. 230cr. Before that, Mahendra Prasad of JD(U) was the richest, with assets of Rs. 683cr, followed by Independent Vijay Mallya (Rs. 615cr).
Scope
So will Jaya Bachchan become India's richest MP?
Till now, 14 candidates (11 BJP, one Samajwadi, one BSP and one Independent) have filed nominations for UP's Rajya Sabha polls. A candidate needs 37 votes to win. The SP, with 47 MLAs, was assured of Bachchan's win, plus another 10 votes for ally BSP. But with BJP fielding three extra candidates, and SP's Nitin Agarwal defecting, it is now left with 46 votes.