BJP clears air on Shah 'assets'

After two days of emerging media reports over the threefold growth in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Amit Shah's assets in five years, the party set the record straight on Monday evening. The BJP called the media reports 'misleading'.

Union Minister and senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal released a press statement and condemned the media reports of leading media publications, which said, "In the past two days some news publications came up with some misleading media reports over party president Amit Shah's total asset growth. While filing the nomination papers for Rajya Sabha, he already clarified."

"However, it is unfortunate that the affidavits have not been studied meticulously while writing such reports or it was not felt necessary to do so," the release further added.

Goyal also stated that during the Gujarat Assembly Elections in 2012 by Shah, it was clearly mentioned in his affidavits that the total moveable assets of him and his wife Sonal Ben at the time collectively stood at Rs. 10.99 crore. With the demise of Shah's mother-in-law on February 28, 2013, he also inherited properties worth Rs18.85 crore through court probate, BJP claimed.

"Thus, in 2013 only, his assets grew to Rs 29.84 crore, which stood at Rs 34.31 crore in 2017 on account of price escalation," the release further stated.

The story was first carried by a leading national daily's Ahmedabad edition and removed from the paper's website within hours of being published on Saturday. Along with the BJP national president, reports also stated that Union Textiles and Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani was yet to complete her Bachelor of Commerce course.

Meanwhile, BJP president Amit Shah on Monday said there was no question of him leaving the party post and he was working "happily" and "wholeheartedly".

Ending speculation that he would resign as party president if elected to the Rajya Sabha, Shah also denied that the BJP had broken any party in Bihar.