Rich club of 'leaders'

In olden days, a leader was the one who would always struggle to put food on the table for his family; very high thinking and simple living. But today, it is the other way round – it is a given that a politician has to be rich, super rich and his way of life – small thinking but very high living.

The politicians who have got into the Indian arena have declared their wealth. Obviously, what is see is what can be ‘shown’’; surely there will be so much more which is undeclared. Top of the list is Nandan Nilekani but we can forgive him for his riches as it has come from working hard as a IT specialist and founder member of Infosys. His declared wealth, along with that of his wife stands at Rs.7710 crore or $1.2 billion!  Then there is a big gap between him and the number two – Kapil Sibal; his total assets is at Rs.110 crore.

Second on the list is another industrialist, steel tycoon, chairman and managing director of Jindal Steel and Power, whose wealth stands at Rs.308 crore. Close on his heels is very flamboyant Moni Kumar Subba at a staggering Rs.304 crore, the richest candidate in Assam and perhaps the entire northeast of India. He faced several criminal charges, filed to run as an independent after Congress denied him a ticket. He is has a special penchant for cars and is known to own a Cadillac and Toyota Lexus. Seasoned politician Kamal Nath comes in fourth at Rs.207 crore.

Then there is the man who missed out on becoming the CM of Delhi – Harsh Vardhan and his wealth is at Rs.12.2 crore.  Another independent candidate from North East – Denis Siangshai, richest candidate of Meghalaya at Rs.110 crore. There is another businessman turned politician – from Andhra, Prabhakar Reddy with assets worth Rs.49 crore. Another Infosys man – V. Balakrishnan,  former board member and chief financial officer of Infosys joined AAP and his riches stand at Rs.180 crore.

This small list indicates that it is actually the industrialists who are the richest, which is fine. But other politicians; it would be naïve to ask how they got so rich only by serving the country.