Assam ministers’ wives are crorepatis

Samudra Gupta Kashyap

Sample this. A senior minister’s wife in the Tarun Gogoi government owns 17 plots of land. Wives of at least four ministers in Assam are crorepatis, including one who is a second-time MP.

Assam has put these and other details of assets owned by the wives of as many as 13 of the 19 ministers, including the chief minister, on its official website. Gogoi and his ministers had declared their assets on January 15.

The net worth of Gogoi’s wife Dolly is Rs 36,72,932, which includes two plots of land worth Rs 13.36 lakh, jewellery worth Rs 1,24,650, bank deposits worth Rs 5,29,868, and a Swift car valued at Rs 5,43,252. She has Rs 17,72,367 as investments in shares and NSC, the website said.

Chief Minister Gogoi’s own declared assets were worth Rs 35.90 lakh.

Interestingly, the declaration of Malati Barman, wife of State Revenue Minister Bhumidhar Barman, includes 17 plots of land in Nalbari apart from a house each in Guwahati and Nalbari. This is in addition to 14 plots her husband showed in his declaration last month.

The declarations, made public on Wednesday, show at least four spouses of ministers in the Gogoi Cabinet are crorepatis. Rani Narah, wife of Culture and Sports Minister Bharat Chandra Narah, tops the chart with assets worth Rs 3.84 crore. Rani Narah, a Lok Sabha member from the Congress, has land, houses and flats in five places including one worth Rs 1.90 crore in Delhi.

Aziza Nazrul, wife of Food and Civil Supplies Minister Nazrul Islam, has total assets worth Rs 1.65 crore. Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, wife of Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is worth Rs 1.44 crore, which includes a flat worth Rs 37.20 lakh in New Delhi and a house in Guwahati worth Rs 39.61 lakh.

The net worth of the assets of Nazreen Hussain, wife of Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain, is Rs 1.08 crore. That includes land worth Rs 17 lakh and house worth Rs 31 lakh.