Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Udhampur-Doda in Jammu and Kashmir, is poorer compared to his singer wife Shamima Azad, according to the affidavit filed by the veteran Congress leader.
Azad,65,has movable assets worth `57,92,733 and immovable assets of about `70 lakh. In contrast his wife has movable assets worth `1,49,91,472 and immovable assets worth `1.20 crore and their daughter Sofiya Azad has movable assets worth `16,05,385.
As per the I-T returns, the minister’s total income in 2012-13 was `8,21,110, while those of his wife and daughter were `7,23,300 and `6,01,880 respectively.
Azad also has `20,000 in cash while his wife has `5 lakh and daughter `10,000. Shamima also owns jewellery worth `10,26,000. The affidavit,though, does not include details of any gold jewellery belonging to Sofiya.
Shamima had two bank accounts in 2009--`23,93,000 and `37,39,124 in the New Delhi branch of Canara Bank and Sydincate Bank respectively. Now, she has `1,12,08,105 in Syndicate Bank and `1,92,552 in Canara Bank. Shamima also holds a joint account with her daughter in J&K Bank, New Delhi, which has an amount of `15,64,815. Azad’s daughter also has `15,95,385 in Syndicate Bank, New Delhi
Rather surprisingly the Congress leader, who also had a three-year tenure as the state’s Chief Minister,does not personally own a house. However, the Azads own houses at Hyderpora-Byepass here worth `59 lakh and New Friends Colony in New Delhi worth `61 lakh, both of which are in Shamima’s name.
But, according to affidavit, the Union Health Minister has 2.5 acres of agricultural land worth about `70 lakh at Washim in Maharashtra, which he had purchased for `1,39,500 in 1994. His affidavit for the 2009 Rajya Sabha polls does not include any mention of the land holding. Incidentally, it was from Washim that Azad made his Parliamentary debut in 1980.
Azad’s bank deposits in SBI, New Delhi Branch registered a sharp increase, up from `16,80,000 in 2009 to `51,63,827 in 2014. He had `3,13,552 in J&K Bank in 2009 and now has `4,08,906 and `2 lakh in two J&K Bank accounts.
The senior Congress leader is facing a tough contest from BJP’s Dr Nirmal Singh and Arshid Malik of the PDP, both of whom are also rich candidates. Incidentally, all the top contenders for the two LS seats in Jammu are millionaires.According to the affidavit filed by Dr Singh, who is a diabetologist, his income in 2013-14 was `8,92,580 while his wife’s income was `1,92,280.
The BJP candidate has got moveable assets worth `88,22,72 and immovable assets worth `2.31 crore. His wife has got moveable assets of `65,42,209,with no immovable assets in her name. Singh, according to the affidavit, has `55,000 in cash and his wife `35,000. As per his 2009 declaration, he had a Maruti 800 car. But now he owns a Maurti SX4 worth `8 lakh. He had only one tola gold worth `15,000 in 2009 and now has 40 tolas worth `12 lakh. His wife, who had 46 tolas gold worth `6.90 lakh in 2009, now has 50 tolas worth `15 lakh. Surprisingly, the BJP candidate had given his age as 53 in 2009 and 57 now.