Lok Sabha Elections 2014: Quirky assets tumble out of MPs’ closets

From the exclusive to the ridiculous, candidates of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections own tghem all. Rolex watches, the finest Arab horses, a hand pump, a movie and JCB excavators are just some of the asset declarations filed along with nomination papers.

The ‘other assets’ column in affidavits filed by candidates reveals the quirky side of our potential leaders through interests ranging from filmmaking to farming. Vedparkash Bhartiya, an independent from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh in Haryana, has unaccountably listed films Chameli ki Shaadi and Daur Thakkur ka, “worth” Rs 15 lakh. Make no mistake, our politicians are very much clued in to ground reality.

At least 40 candidates including Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and Madan Lal Sharma, the Congress candidate from Jammu, own tractors. Indrajeet Kumar, Congress candidate from Sidhi constituency in Madhya Pradesh has declared hand pumps and a tubewell worth Rs 1.70 lakh.

The earthiness is taken to another level by Navajyoti Kalita, AIT C candidate from Dibrugarh in Assam, who owns two JCBs worth Rs 43 lakh. Here are some of our leaders’ more exotic passions: Former BJP leader Jaswant Singh owns Arab horses worth Rs 3 lakh besides 51 Tharparkar cows (a breed of draft animals) valued at about Rs 3 lakh. Sandeep Dikshit, son of former New Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, has disclosed animals worth Rs 38.8 lakh.

As finer things go, Hemendra Chandra Singh — a Biju Janata Dal candidate from Kandhamal in Orissa — takes the crown. He has declared eight branded watches worth Rs 25 lakh. In his exclusive kit are a Rolex Diamond worth Rs 7 lakh and a Tag Heuer worth Rs 1.5 lakh. Fellow BJD member Sidhant Mohapatra, the Berhampur candidate, has disclosed a gym set valued at nearly Rs 2.2 lakh. So if there’s one universal message these candidates seem to be conveying, it’s this: Live it up!