Former Union Minister B. Janardhana Poojary, who filed his nomination as Congress candidate for Dakshina Kannada constituency on Wednesday without much fanfare, and his wife Malathi J. Poojary together have property worth about Rs. 52.42 lakh, as per the affidavit he filed along with his nomination papers on Wednesday.
In 2009, the total assets possessed by Mr. Poojary and his wife were about Rs. 38.03 lakh. His property has increased nearly 38 per cent since last elections.
His wife possesses assets worth Rs. 41.53 lakh, including 6.29 acres of agriculture land in Mooda village. Mr. Poojary has claimed of possessing assets worth Rs. 10. 89 lakh. Among the assets are a house in Kasaba Bazar in a 600 sq. ft. area that he purchased in September 1999 at Rs. 1.8 lakh. Mr. Poojary was a tenant in this house since 1960. The present market value of this house was Rs. 8 lakh.
Mr. Poojary has two bank accounts — one in New Delhi and another in Mangalore — in which there was balance of Rs. 2.79 lakh. He also possesses cash of Rs. 10,000. In the income tax returns filed in 2012-13, Mr. Poojary has declared his income at Rs. 6 lakh.
Mr. Poojary’s wife Ms. Malathi has 300g of gold jewellery worth Rs. 7.8 lakh and other movable articles worth Rs. 50,000. Mr. Poojary and his wife do not have any liabilities.
Talking to reporters after filing his papers, Mr. Poojary said the fight in the constituency was between him and BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. The Janata Dal (Secular), which was supporting Social Democratic Party of India candidate, does not have much presence in the constituency, he said.
