Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s cabinet colleagues are wealthier than him.
This was revealed by the mandatory annual assets declaration by the ministers made public late on Saturday night. Several of them are also fond of guns.
The prized possessions of Nitish include 12 cows and 10 calves, kept at his official residence. Nitish’s aides said the bulk of milk was used in serving tea and coffee to the employees and visitors.
Nitish has a car worth Rs 11 lakh and jewellery comprising two gold rings and a pearl-studded silver ring worth Rs 1 lakh. He has Rs 28,000 cash in hand and Rs 52,000 in bank accounts. The only immovable asset he now owns is a 1,000-square-foot flat that he purchased at Dwarka in Delhi in 2004 for Rs 14 lakh. Its current market price is Rs 59 lakh, taking the value of his assets to Rs 76 lakh.
Of 31 ministers, 27 are crorepatis. Revenue and land reforms minister Alok Kumar Mehta is at the top with assets worth Rs 25 crore.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s younger son and deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, 33, has movable and immovable assets worth Rs 5.27 crore. He and his wife Rajshree have 680gm of gold and 2kg of silver ornaments.
Tejashwi’s elder brother and state environment minister Tej Pratap Yadav, 34, has assets worth Rs 3.25 crore, including a BMW car and an imported motorcycle.
Ministers Israel Mansoori, Sumit Kumar Singh, Ramanand Yadav, Santosh Kumar Suman, Chandrashekhar, Lalit Yadav, Leshi Singh and Shrawan Kumar possess firearms.
