Source: 
Author: 
Date: 
25.05.2016
City: 
New Delhi

Nine out of 11 (82 per cent) newly-sworn in Cabinet ministers in the first BJP-led government in Assam are crorepatis, as per an analysis of their affidavits submitted to the Election Commission.

The three richest ministers are BJP leaders, Naba Kumar Doley (assets worth Rs. 7  crore) and Himanta Biswa Sarma (Rs 6 crore), followed by Bodoland People’s Front’s (BPF) Rihon Daimani (Rs 3 crore), according to the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), a non-profit election watchdog.

The Ministers with lowest assets are BJP’s Parimal Suklabadya (Rs 37 lakh), Pallab Lochan Das (Rs 54 lakh) and Asom Gana Parishad’s Keshab Mahanta (Rs 1 crore).

The average assets of the 11 ministers are Rs. 2.67 crore.

Only one Minister in the Sonowal Cabinet – Doley -- has declared criminal cases against himself. Incidentally, Sarma, who broke away from the Congress to join BJP, has been questioned by CBI on his alleged role in the Sarada chit fund scam and his name has also cropped up in the Louis Berger bribery case. 

As regards education, nine out the 11 new Assam Minister are graduates or above, while two are 12th pass. There is only one woman, Pramila Rani Brahma of BPF, in the 11-member Cabinet, who is also the oldest aged 65 years, the youngest being 38-year-old Pallab Lochan Das (BJP).

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