Hyderabad: Nara Lokesh, the only son of and heir apparent to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N Chandrababu Naidu, today announced the details of his own and his family’s assets, which amounted to Rs31.47 crore [Rs314.7 million, Dh17 million]
He also announced that he and his immediate family had liabilities of Rs6.35 crore [63.5 million].
He also announced the assets and liabilities of his parents, Naidu and entrepreneur Bhuvaneswari.
The total assets of the entire family (including Naidu and Lokesh) stood at Rs600.04 million and liabilities at Rs224.1 million.
Naidu has been releasing the details of his assets annually for the past six years to set an example for other politicians.
Addressing a media conference in Vijayawada, today, Lokesh, national general secretary of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) said, “Ours is the only political family in the entire country of which all the members have been declaring their assets annually”, he said.
“Our leader, Chandrababu Naidu, had started this practice while in opposition six years ago to set an example for the entire country,” he said. “We have gone much beyond the stipulation that the candidates should submit the details of his assets to the Election Commission at the time of contesting the polls”.
Assets in the name of the family include immovable properties of Rs8.15 crore [Rs81.5 million], shares worth Rs2.52 crore [Rs25.2 million] in the family-owned Heritage Food company, and shares worth Rs1.64 crores [Rs16.4 million] in other companies. Lokesh said he had a car worth Rs93 lakhs [Rs9.3 million], too.
Lokesh’s wife Brahmini’s assets include a house in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, worth Rs3.5 crore [Rs35 million]; a piece of land in Madhapur area, worth Rs17 lakhs [Rs1.7 million]; a commercial plot in Chennai, worth Rs48 lakhs [Rs4.8 million]; and a plot in Manikonda area of Hyderabad worth Rs1.23 crore [12.3 million].
Lokesh also announced assets held in the name of his one-year-old son including a house in Jubilee Hills worth Rs9.17 crore [Rs91.7 million], fixed deposit of Rs2.4 crore [Rs24 million] and cash of Rs2.31 lakhs [Rs2,31,000].
Lokesh also released the details of the assets of his father Naidu, worth Rs3.73 crore [Rs37.3 million] and his mother Bhuvaneswari’s assets of Rs38.66 crore [Rs386.6 million]. Bhuvaneswari, the managing director of Heritage Food Co., also has liabilities of Rs13 crore [Rs130 million].
Naidu’s assets include a house in Hyderabad worth Rs3.68 crore [Rs36.8 million], an old ambassador car worth Rs1.52 lakhs [Rs1,52,000] and Rs3.59 lakhs [Rs3,59,000] in the bank. He also has a liability of Rs3.06 crore [Rs30.6 million], a bank loan.
Bhuvaneswari’s assets include immovable property worth Rs24.84 crore [Rs248.4 million], land in Punjagutta area of Hyderabad worth Rs73 lakhs [Rs7.3 million], land in Tamil Nadu worth Rs1.86 crore [Rs18.6 million], land in Madina Guda in Hyderabad worth Rs73 lakhs [Rs7.3 million], shares in Heritage Food valued at Rs19.95 crore [Rs199.5 million], shares in other companies of Rs3.23 crore [Rs32.3 million], gold jewellery Rs1.27 crore [Rs12.7 million], and car worth Rs91 lakhs [Rs9.1 million].
On the allegations that the family had much more wealth than declared, Lokesh said if the charge was proved he would immediately transfer the said assets to the person levelling the allegation.
He said that the family was financially stable and did not face any hardship as it had started the Heritage Food Company 24 years ago. “Last year the Heritage Food had a turnover of Rs2,381 crore [Rs23,810 million] and a profit of Rs55 crore [Rs550 million],” he said. The company provides employment to 20,000 people and its income has increased 100 per cent.
“Like any other family, ours also wanted financial security. That is why it had started the company,” he added.
The move was being seen as a juxtaposition against TDP’s main political rival, YSR Congress President YS Jaganmohan Reddy, who is facing massive charges of corruption, fraud and misuse of power amounting to millions of rupees.
