Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and Minister Naba Kishore Das has reportedly donated a gold kalas worth over Rs 1 crore to a temple in Maharashtra.
Das, who holds the health and family welfare portfolio, reportedly donated the kalas made of Rs 1.7 kg of gold and 5 kg of silver to the Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra which is one of the famous Shani shrines in the country.
Speaking to media, Das admitted that he visited the temple. "On the auspicious occasion of Triveni Amavasya, I had gone to Shani Shingnapur temple to seek blessing and donated Rs 10 lakh. I prayed for happiness and prosperity of people of Odisha. What is wrong in that,” Das said.
However, the reaction of the Minister could not be obtained in this regard.
It can be mentioned here that Naba Kishore Das, who represents Jharsuguda constituency, was the richest minister in Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s Cabinet, with properties of Rs 32 crore, as per the statement of movable and immovable assets of the Council of Ministers released by the State government in September last year.
In the statement, Das had disclosed that his wife owned 75 vehicles in her name. All the vehicles were commercial ones valued at Rs 15 crore. This apart, the minister owns a Mercedes Benz valued at over Rs 1.14 crore.
The Minister has deposits of over Rs 45.12 lakh in different banks at Sambalpur, Bhubaneswar and Jharsuguda. In addition, he has invested over Rs 77.43 lakh in fixed deposits. His wife also has deposits in different banks amounting to over Rs 1.13 crore and fixed deposits of more than Rs 2.24 crore.
Reported by Chandan Paikray, OTV