Rajendra Prasad left behind a bank balance of Rs 1,432

PATNA: While the present day politicians declare assets worth crores, the balance amount of a savings account once held by the country's first president Rajendra Prasad is a meagre Rs.1,432.

The account in the Exhibition road branch of the Punjab National Bank here has not been closed by the authorities even after four decades of Prasad's death as a mark of respect to the Bharat Ratna awardee.

No one has come forward till date to withdraw the amount. His descendents have already migrated out of Bihar.

Bank officials said that the account was an asset and a matter of pride for the bank. 

The balance signifies his (Prasad's) honesty and integrity in public life, they said.

Other prominent leaders like Jay Prakash Narayan and Maulana Mazharul Haque also had accounts in Punjab National Bank branches, the officials said.

Rajendra Prasad was born on Dec 3, 1884 at Zeradei in Bihar's Siwan district and died on Feb 28, 1963 in Patna.