BJP president Amit Shah’s annual income one-fourth of his wife

BJP national president Amit Shah filed his nomination to contest from Gandhinagar and declared that he was blessed to contest from a constituency which had earlier returned stalwarts like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani. The nomination turned into a show of strength with union ministers Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley flanking the party president and NDA leaders including Uddhav Thackeray turning up in a show of solidarity.

Shah declared an annual income of ₹53.90 lakh in his Income Tax Return for 2017-18. The declaration claimed that his wife’s annual income during the same year was ₹2.30 Crore. While sources of income were not mentioned, the BJP president was a stock broker before plunging into active politics.

This is the first time that candidates are required to file details of their Income Tax Returns for the previous five years. The affidavit uploaded on the website of the Chief Electoral Officer, Gujarat shows the BJP president’s annual income registering a modest increase from ₹41 lakhs in 2013-14. In 2014-15, however, his income went down to ₹25 lakhs.

The annual income of his wife, however, rose more dramatically. From a relatively modest ₹14 lakhs in 2013-14 and went up to ₹39.75 lakhs in 2014-15, ₹1.55 Crore in 2015-16, went down marginally to ₹1.05 Crore in 2016-17 before going up to ₹2.30 Crore.

Both husband and wife have declared a modest bank balance of ₹18 lakh each. While Mr Amit Shah has declared a cash in hand of ₹20 thousand, his wife’s declaration has put the cash in hand as ₹72 thousand.

Neither Mr Shah nor his wife apparently own any vehicle. But while Mr Shah has 160 grams of gold and his wife 1620 grams of gold besides 63 carat diamond.

Mr Shah’s investment in Mutual Funds and Bonds is pegged at ₹3.26 Crore and his wife’s at ₹5.30 Crore.

The BJP president also disclosed that he had bought shares in as many as 202 listed companies with the current market value pegged at ₹17 Crore. Curiously, the list does not mention any investment in the Adani Group of companies but investment in several Reliance companies owned by both Mukesh and Anil Ambani.

Amit Shah has declared the value of his self-earned immovable property as ₹3.26 crore and that of his wife as ₹5.27 crore. He has inherited property worth ₹14.97 crore.

He has also invested in 12 unlisted companies whose current market value is only ₹1.5 lakh.

There are two criminal cases pending trial against Amit Shah filed in Bihar and West Bengal. Both are for giving hate speeches earlier this year. He obtained stay from the Kolkata high court on criminal prosecution in the case.