Jagan’s wealth grew five-fold in just two years

FP Editors • July 10, 2019, 11:11:16 IST

Jagan Mohan Reddy did not inform the Election Commission about all his media holdings and real estate assets that together catapulted his wealth five-fold in two years.

Jagan’s wealth grew five-fold in just two years

Being the son of a Chief Minister is clearly an invitation to help yourself to the moolah. So it seems to have been with YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, son and heir to the YSR legacy.

According to Jagan’s latest election affidavit, the new MP from Kadapa and his wife are valued at more than Rs 410 crore, taking shares, moveable and immoveable properties together. Since the value of real estate and unlisted shares can only be estimated, there is a good chance that Reddy’s actual wealth is much higher than the valuations he has shown. Especially if one considers that there may be lots of undeclared properties held in benami names.

The key fact that emerges from his elections affidavits of 2009 and 2011 is this: his assets, combined with those of his wife Bharathi Reddy, have grown more than five-fold in just two years: from Rs 77-and-odd crore to over Rs 410 crore.

Check out the difference: Jagan Reddy’s election affidavits for 2011 and 2009 reveal his growing assets

They key pages in the affidavit to read are page 5, where Jagan and his wife have declared the value of their moveable assets, and page 10, which discloses his shareholding in various companies. The full abstract showing their combined moveable and immoveable properties and their liabilities is on page 12.

Missing in the whole affidavit are the purchases of Jagan’s Hyderabad property in the tony Banjara Hills made by Utopia Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, which bought plots no 2 and 7 at Huda Heights, which is part of a larger property which will house Jagan’s palatial residence. The floor plans show 14 escalators, 10 lifts, a mini-theater of 200 seating capacity, libraries, squash court, gyms, marble flooring in about 60 rooms and bathrooms which are of the size of a single bedroom flat.

Also missing from the picture are Jagan’s media holding, Jagati Publications, which is held through Carmel Asia Holdings. Jagati publishes Sakshi newspaper and TV channel, and was set up as a rival to the Eenadu publications. A foreign investment in the Eenadu group was thwarted during YSR’s chief ministership, allegedly to ensure that Sakshi got a smooth ride.