Bhubaneswar: Odisha Health Minister Naba Das has purchased as many as 80 vehicles including a luxurious car (Mercedes Benz) worth Rs 2 crore in the last two years. Das has purchased a total of 80 new vehicles between 2018 and 2020.
It was revealed from the property statement of all the ministers including chief minister Naveen Patnaik, which was made public on Sunday.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is the richest among his colleagues with total assets worth Rs 78 crore while Sports Minister Tusharkanit Behera has shown his asset valuation at Rs 32,33,471, which is the lowest among all ministers.
Minister Naba Das is the second richest minister after the CM. Among his 80 vehicles, most of them are commercial vehicles.
The Chief Minister revealed that he has properties worth Rs 64,98,19,764 including jewellery of Rs 2.89 lakh and ‘1980’ model Ambasadoor car, the cost of which is estimated to be around Rs 8,905. Patnaik also has Rs 13.1 crore cash deposit in seven bank accounts among which Delhi Janpath branch of Bank Of India has the maximum Rs 1.3 crore saving deposit.
Naveen's immovable properties include land and building at Bhubaneswar, Delhi and Haryana. The cost of his building and landed property at Faridabad is estimated to be around Rs 10.75 crore. Similarly, he has obtained 2/3 share of Naveen Niwas, his residence in Bhubaneswar.
Law Minister Pratap Jena has movable and immovable asset worth Rs 10 crore while Ashok Panda and Captain Divyashankar Mishra have properties of Rs 8 crore and Rs 7 crore respectively.
While the total assets of Health Minister Naba Das as on March 31, 2019, is not available, his assets as on March 31, 2018, was more than Rs 33 crore.
Here's is the list of properties of ministers-
Pratap Jena: Rs 10,35,29,911
Ashok Chandra Panda: Rs 8,34,48,994
Dibya Shankar Mishra: Rs 7,31,76,408
Susanta Singh: Rs 4,93,94,644
Bikram Keshari Arukha: Rs 4,78,47,471
Niranjan Pujari: Rs 4,34,65,308
Sudam Marandi: Rs 2,61,18,026
Samir Ranjan Dash: Rs 2,23,75,761
Arun Kumar Sahoo: Rs 89,93,439
Prafulla Mallick: Rs 39,28,831
Tushar Kanti Behera: Rs 32,33,471
Meanwhile, the release of the property list of ministers has fuelled politics in the State with the Opposition firing salvo at the ruling BJD and also questioning the authenticity of the report.
The BJD however has said that the ministers have been submitting their genuine property list every year.
"As per the direction of the chief minister, we have disclosed the list of our properties. We have submitted all authentic documents. Earlier, we had also given the asset list. So, there is nothing to hide," Minister Padmanav Behera said.
On the other hand, the BJP has demanded the details of the wealth of ministers they have accumulated in last ten years.
"People of Odisha need to know the details of the ministers' assets which they have accumulated in last ten years. They should produce a comparative statement of their property list of last ten years. Secondly, they should also declare their sources of income and also explain how their wealth increased every year," BJP state general secretary Prithivraj Harichandan said.
Congress has alleged that no leaders have shown correct data regarding their assets.
"No leaders including me have submitted their real property list. This list is just an eye wash and it does not even bear a portion of their wealth", Congress MLA Suresh Routray said.