Bhubaneswar/Berhampur: After BJP raised question on the "substantial increase" in the value of properties of Naveen Patnaik, the Chief Minister`s Office on Sunday said he inherited immovable properties from his parents.
The Odisha unit of BJP earlier in the day had sought
clarification from the chief minister stating that the value
of his property increased by about Rs four crore during the
last two years as per the property list made public on Friday.
"While the chief minister had shown his property at Rs
7.73 crore as per the affidavit filed before the last Assembly
elections in 2009, the recent property list mentioned that he
owned property of about Rs 12 crore," BJP state vice-president
and party spokesman Ashok Sahu said at Berhampur.
When contacted, a CMO spokesman said: "All the immovable
properties of the Chief Minister of Odisha are inherited from
his parents - late Biju Patnaik and Gyan Patnaik. Among them,
the rates of properties in Delhi and Haryana have been raised
substantially by the Delhi and Haryana governments
respectively in the last two years."
Alleging that almost all ministers who had shown their
property list in the public was under valued, Sahu said the
BJP was planning to move the Enforcement Directorate under the
Ministry of Finance demanding an inquiry into the properties
of the cabinet ministers including the chief minister.
The property list shown by the ministers like Pradeep
Maharathi, Surya Narayan Patro and Bikram Keshari Arukha were
much higher (as visible of their immovable properties) than
what they mentioned, Sahu alleged.
The ministers were not immediately available for comment.
PTI
