Nara Lokesh Assets Declaration

The annual ritual of Nara family’s asset declaration is surely a comedy of errors. The assets declared by Nara Lokesh Naidu may have been ‘legally correct’ and ‘arithmetically accurate’. But, Caesar’s wife,they say, should be above suspicion.

Everyone on this earth knows that two into two is four. But is it just two into two or two million into two million and is it in INR (rupees) or USD (dollars) or KWD (Kuwaiti Dinars)? Officially, it is surely in rupee terms.

And “humility” is shown as an asset, and, in the prologue, “lack of corruption” was emphasized as in investment and being politically correct is the PAT (profit after tax) in the P&L (profit and loss) account. The balance sheet is thus tallied.

Austerity was ostentatiously announced. The entire family’s net worth is pegged at Rs. 74 crore. Fine. However, the derisive remarks from bitterest critics – mainly the YSR Congress – could not be ignored as the usual criticism by the Opposition.

Social media is very active these days. Everyone is a self-styled auditor. Everyone is an “unchartered” accountant. Everyone has his/her own style of calculations. So many questions have been raised by critics. Some went to the extent of publishing some information claimed to have been secured through RTI Act. So many cronies of TDP have given multiple explanations.

Are all members of the TDP doing the same? Why isn’t Naidu unable to convince his party leaders to tread the same path.

At less than Rs. 1 crore of personal assets (Rs. 3.73 crore assets and a bank loan of Rs 3.06 crore deduces Naidu’s net worth to Rs. 67 lakh), could Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh for the longest term and the first Chief Minister of truncated Andhra Pradesh, maybe next only to Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar in terms of poverty?

Salaried class, eh. He gets a salary as the Chief Minister of the State. The onus of announcing the assets was entrusted to Lokesh for the last two years, while the family has been announcing the assets for the last six years.

When Naidu’s posh house – now under renovation or reconstruction – is valued at Rs. 3.68 crore, many people, including opposition MPs, challenged that they could pay 50 per cent more and buy the same. That Naidu and his family aren’t willing to part with the property is a different story. Ordinarily, such a huge bungalow could not be bought for that paltry sum by anybody.

The investments in the form of shares of Nara Bhuvaneswari, wife of Naidu, Lokesh and Brahmani and the gain of inheritance by Devansh, son of Brahmani and Lokesh, have all raised many an eyebrow. Bhuvaneswari is the Managing Director of Heritage Foods Ltd.

“We sell milk (Heritage) and vegetables (Heritage Fresh) for a living,” said Lokesh, lacing the assets with “humility”. Not all vegetable and milk vendors are that lucky to make it so profitable.

The toddler’s Rs 12-odd crore assets made every one wink an eye. Lokesh’s claim that the family always declared assets – whether they were in power or opposition – is an undisputable fact. However, the practice was started only with an intent of cracking a ‘cruel joke’ against YS Jagan who has been booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). This is for sure.

Naidu & Co are aware that Jagan cannot declare his assets and thus remains cornered for several years on this front.

Lokesh said whether in opposition or in power, they always declared their assets voluntarily.

While it is considered “good practice” to declare assets by politicians, especially those of Naidu’s stature, the first family of the TDP amassed a lot of criticism. Telangana RashtraSamithi MP and Telngana Chief Minister’s daughter Kavita came down heavily on Lokesh and said KCR’s family did not amass wealth and that they were not vulgarly rich like Naidu.

Given the opulence in their lifestyle, including their stay in a five-star hotel in the City, the explaining done by the Nara family is just treated as ‘chest-thumping exercise’. The people can see through the opaqueness in the veil of transparency.

When Naidu sought stay orders from courts of law in various assets cases against him, these declarations automatically assume an asterisk that shows the rider as ‘subject to condition that court declares themclean’. This process anyway has its own nuances.

Now the question doing the rounds is why should the Nara family give scope to suspicion at all. The answer is anybody’s guess.