Sharp hike in value of Nitish’s assets; Tej Pratap has a super bike

Bihar’s forest and environment minister Tej Pratap Yadav, who is the elder son of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, owns a BMW sedan, a Skoda car and a Honda super bike, while his younger brother and deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad does not have any vehicle to ride.

This was revealed in the customary assets declarations made by state chief minister Nitish Kumar and his ministers, which were made public on the government’s website late on Sunday evening.

Nitish Kumar’s assets have risen in a year from ₹75 lakh declared in 2022 to ₹1.64 crore in 2023. The sharp increase, however, is on account of the rise in valuation of his flat at Dwarka in Delhi, which is worth nearly ₹1.48 crore.

According to details of his assets, Kumar has ₹22,552 in cash, and deposits of ₹49,202 in different bank accounts. He also owns an old Ford Ecosport car worth ₹11.32 lakh, two gold rings and a silver ring worth ₹1.28 lakh, and other movable assets such as 13 cows and 10 calves worth ₹1.45 lakh, a treadmill, an exercise cycle and a microwave oven.

Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav declared a total income of ₹4.74 lakh for the 2022-23 financial year, while his elder brother Tej Pratap’s total assets’ worth has grown to ₹3.58 crore. Tejashwi also has net movable and immovable assets worth ₹3.85 crore, which include over ₹77.89 lakh in deposits in various bank accounts and gold ornaments weighting 200 gms. His wife Rajshree possesses gold ornaments weighting about 480 gms and their nine-month-old daughter 200 gms of gold.

Tej Pratap and Tejashwi also own many agricultural and residential plots, a few in shares, in different parts of the country, including their native village of Phulwaria in Gopalganj district and Patna.

Last year, Tej Pratap bought a Skoda Slavia car costing over ₹22 lakh. His Honda bike CBR 1000RR is valued ₹15.45 lakh. A brand new CBR 1000RR bike costs around ₹25 lakh in the market currently.

Rural development minister Shravan Kumar owns an Ambassador car, Mahindra XUV and a Fortuner, while his ministerial colleague Leshi Singh also has three four-wheelers and two trucks.