He is probably the poorest chief minister in India. Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar has no home and his bank balance is just Rs13,920.
AGARTALA: He is probably the poorest chief minister in India. Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar has no home and his bank balance is just Rs13,920.
“I am dependent on my wife Panchali Bhattacharjee, who is an officer of the central social welfare board under the central government,” he said.
The 59-year-old Marxist has no land, no vehicle and no other moveable or immovable assets. Sarkar’s financial condition came to light when he submitted nominations along with an affidavit declaring his assets on January 31, ahead of the February 23 assembly elections. “As chief minister, Sarkar received a monthly salary of Rs9,200 and subsidiary allowance of Rs1,200 per month and these amounts he donates to the party fund, like other party men,” said Gautam Das, the state spokesman of the CPI(M).
A non-smoker and teetotaller, Sarkar’s critics and archrivals are also quite impressed by his personal integrity and honesty. “We have no doubt about his honesty, but most of Sarkar’s fellow party leaders and workers are not honest,” said Tapas Dey, former legislator and Congress spokesman.
Sarkar’s wife also leads a simple life and prefers travelling in rickshaws. “If Sarkar and his wife take part in the same programme, the chief minister goes in his official vehicle while his wife travels in a rickshaw or an auto,” said an official of the chief minister’s secretariat.
In a sharp contrast, former chief minister and state Congress president Sarmir Ranjan Burman shows his assets valued at Rs1.6 crore while his party colleague and another former chief minister Sudhir Ranjan Majumder submitted an affidavit declaring assets totalling Rs5,50,000.
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