NEW DELHI: There’s something ironical about Shyam Bharteey’s ‘Gareeb Aadmi Party.’ First his brief CV: He is 57 years old and is a contestant of his party from Delhi’s Chandni Chowk seat. The party’s election symbol is not reserved, so he has opted for ‘whistle.’ Registered in 2014, the party’s symbol for the 2015 Delhi assembly poll was ‘a plate full of food.’
Now, read on the ‘gareeb’ part of it: Bharteey is a ‘crorepati’ as per the nomination affidavit. It shows that the candidate, who is also the founder and president of the party, has wealth of over Rs 4 crore that includes his assets in gold, silver, fixed deposits and real estate.
Bharteey possesses 200 gm of gold with a market value of Rs 12 lakh while his spouse has half a kg of the yellow metal and 2 kg of silver worth Rs 32 lakh. Add to it over Rs 15 lakh of fixed and other bank deposits. The couple has two properties of Rs 3 crore and 50 lakh each Besides, they also have over Rs 15 lakh invested in fixed and other bank deposits with no loans or other liabilities. He told this newspaper that his party maybe ‘gareeb,’ but he is definitely not.
“My well-to-do status doesn’t mean that I’m not pro-poor. Our aim is to alleviate poverty in the country,” Bharteey said. But how? “I will cease the free ration run,” says Bharteey.
He is also a filmmaker. “In the movie, I did what PM Modi did later. I abrogated Article 370 and built a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya,” he said. But ‘gareeb’ has not yet disappeared, he agrees.
Chandni Chowk’s Gareeb Aadmi
Gold: Affidavit says Shyam Bharteey has 200 gm of gold (market value of Rs 12 lakh). His spouse owns 1/2 kg of the yellow metal
Silver: 2 kg silver worth Rs 32 lakh at the market with spouse
FD & deposits: Over Rs 15 lakh
Properties: Two properties worth more than Rs 3 crore
No loans or any other liability