Wives of Jharkhand politicians report fair income hike

Ranchi, May 18 (IANS) Wives of politicians in Jharkhand seem to have fair income, and in some cases better than their husbands, according to the available Election Commission data.

The income of some of them increased more than 400 per cent between 2013-14 and 2018-19, according to declarations made by their husbands in nomination papers for the Lok Sabha elections.

Punita Sinha, for instance, wife of Union Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha, saw her earnings rise from Rs 1,14,27,790 in 2014-15 to Rs 5,36,21,990 in 2017-18.

In contrast, the income of Sinha, seeking re-election from the Hazaribagh Lok Sabha seat as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate, decreased over the past five years. According to Sinha's declaration, his total income was Rs 5,74,20,270 in 2013-14, which declined to Rs 91,01,220 in 2014-15 and then to Rs 35,91,290 in 2017-18.

Sinha, the richest candidate in Jharkhand with Rs 76.91 crore assets, had declared Rs 55 crore assets in 2014. While Punita also has no liabilities, her husband has Rs 14,68,40,898 loans.

Sinha owns Rs 32,56,77,716 moveable assets, while his wife owns assets worth Rs 11,43,46,266. The Minister purchased immovable property worth Rs 14,18,40,400, while his wife bought assets worth Rs 8,54,79,717.

Another Union Minister Sudarshan Bhagat, the BJP candidate from the Lohardaga seat, saw his income increase from Rs 8.95 lakh to Rs 13.15 lakh. The earnings of his wife Krishna Toppo, a government employee, rose from Rs 6.06 lakh to Rs 11.57 lakh in the five years.

The income of Sudarshan Bhagat's Congress opponent in Lohardaga Sukhdeo Bhagat increased from Rs 3.12 lakh to Rs 7.54 lakh, just as his politician wife Anupama Bhagat's earnings grew from Rs 3.22 lakh to Rs 6.75 lakh.

The income of former Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahay, the Congress candidate from Ranchi, grew from Rs 10.59 lakh to Rs 21.81 lakh over the past five years. Income of his wife Rekha Sahay, a theatre actor, increased from Rs 2.32 to Rs 3.30 lakh over this period.

The BJP candidate in Ranchi Sanjay Seth's income increased from Rs 2.59 lakh to Rs 18.06 lakh between 2013-14 and 2018-19. Remunerations of his wife, a private tutor, increased from Rs 2.59 lakh to Rs 3.67 lakh over this time.

Congress' Chatra candidate Manoj Kumar Yadav's income increased from Rs 14.59 lakh to Rs 26.81 lakh. But more significant was the rise in his businesswoman wife's earnings, from Rs 7.96 lakh to Rs 16.57 lakh.

RJD's Chatra candidate Subhash Yadav's income increased from Rs 10.87 lakh to Rs 33.68 lakh and his wife Lalita Devi's income from her businesses increased from Rs 4.12 lakh to Rs 16.33 lakh.