Assets of ministers Aditi Tatkare, Sanjay Rathod soar 772% & 220% in 5 years, CM's up 187%

MUMBAI: While the financial status of most of the 27 outgoing state cabinet ministers improved moderately over the past five years, there were notable exceptions where the rise was considerable, including CM Eknath Shinde, show affidavits they have filed. Most of the rise in net assets was because these ministers purchased land and flats during the period.

Among cases where the increase was substantial was that of Aditi Tatkare, women and child development minister.

She saw a 772 per cent increase in net assets, which rose from Rs 39 lakh in 2019 to Rs 3.4 crore. Public works minister Ravindra Chavan’s net worth rose 117 per cent from Rs 7 crore to Rs 15.5 crore. Minister for soil and water conservation Sanjay Rathod logged a 220 per cent rise, from Rs 5.9 crore to about Rs 15.9 crore.

Sanjay Bansode, minister of sports, youth welfare and ports development, saw his net assets grow 144 per cent from Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore. CM Eknath Shinde’s net assets saw a 187 per cent growth, from Rs 7.81 crore to Rs 22.4 crore.

Deputy chief ministers in the Mahayuti govt Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis saw their net assets increase by 44 per cent and 56 per cent, respectively, according to election affidavits filed by them.

Three ministers are facing investigations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) related to money laundering — Ajit Pawar and his NCP colleague Hasan Mushrif in the Maharashtra State Co-Operative Bank (MSCB) case, while NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal is out on bail after he was arrested in 2016 in a case linked to an alleged scam related to RTO land and Maharashtra Sadan.

Mushrif had faced ED raids and questioning while Ajit Pawar was never questioned in the matter. These leaders briefly referenced these cases in their affidavits filed for the assembly polls. Bhujbal’s net assets increased by 17 per cent, while Mushrif ’s rose 34 per cent.

The three leaders from the NCP joined the Shiv SenaBJP coalition govt in the state in July last year.

RTI activist and expert Shailesh Gandhi said, “The income tax department and other higher-ups in taxation should conduct a scrutiny of all the election affidavits to know if these disclosures were in line with the ministers’ I-T returns filed over the last five years. Unless there is verification and understanding about the source of income, this exercise remains just a show. The very purpose of knowing whether this growth is real or not thus gets defeated. It is our right to know how honest these leaders have been to the country’s treasury and assets.”

Meanwhile, minister Vijaykumar Gavit, who had nine cases pending against him, saw them reduced to zero, whereas his total assets increased by 12 per cent. The only minister whose net assets dropped is builder-politician Mangal Prabhat Lodha (Malabar Hill MLA): his assets decreased by 11 per cent, primarily due to rising liabilities.

Aditi Tatkare’s net worth saw a boost after she acquired over 12 acres of agricultural land valued at Rs 1 crore and a 75,827 sq ft plot of non-agricultural land worth Rs 21 lakh in Roha in 2020-21. Ravindra Chavan’s family’s net assets also grew substantially, rising from Rs 7.1 crore to Rs 15.5 crore; among his assets is a revolver valued at Rs 1.5 lakh.

Sanjay Rathod’s total assets surged after he purchased a Rs 13 crore flat in Prabhadevi in 2023, while his wife bought a 37,452 sq ft commercial property in Nagpur for Rs 11 crore in Dec 2019. Consequently, their liabilities also increased significantly from Rs 2.2 crore to Rs 24.4 crore.

Dhananjay Munde acquired a 2,151 sq ft flat in Malabar Hill valued at Rs 10 crore in Dec 2023 and a 930 sq ft flat in Pune worth Rs 1.1 crore in 2022, contributing to an 81 per cent increase in the family’s net assets in the last five years.

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