Kanhaiya Kumar who is India’s most popular student leader has declared a staggering Rs. 8.5 lakh as his annual income. The affidavit which he filed for his nomination from Bihar’s Begusarai, also lists five cases, which made him overnight sensation three years ago.
The chief of the JNU students’ Union was detained along with fellow students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya in February 2016 ‘on charges of sedition’.
This year, the 32-year-old became a Left candidate. The BJP has fielded Union Minister Giriraj Singh. Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal, for which Begusrai is a stronghold, is fielding Tanveer Haasan this time around.
In his affidavit, the former student leader – a sedition case against whom had triggered student protests across the country – describes himself as an unemployed man who empathises with freelance works and appears as a guest lecturer in several universities for a living. He said that his salary comes mostly from the sale of his book “Bihar to Tihar”.
Also, read: I want Kanhaiya Kumar to win, he is the future of India: Prakash Raj
His total cash in hand, the written statement said, was estimated as Rs. 24,000 and investments and savings in bank amounts to Rs. 3,57,848.
His statement also mentions one immovable asset, which is his ancestral property, a house in Bihar’s Begusarai which stands on 1.5 decimal land and is estimated at Rs. 2 lakh (current market value). He has no agricultural land. His family background- His father is a farmer and his mother is an Anganwadi worker.
Even as Kanhaiya Kumar is not the poorest candidate in this upcoming election, Nalla Prem Kumar, who is contesting on JDU ticket from Telangana’s Chevella Lok Sabha constituency declared asset of Rs. 500.
Rajendra Kendruka who is contesting from Koraput Odisha has declared assets worth Rs. 565. The 27-year-old was once a Maoist sympathiser where he joined the mainstream and is contesting the election on a CPI- ML ticket.