Securing the Cabinet berth for the second consecutive term, the Shiromani Akali Dal’s (SAD) three-time MP from Bathinda, Harsimrat Kaur Badal is the richest Minister in the newly-constituted Council of Ministers of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who himself is far behind her on 46th rank with Rs 2.51 crore assets.
As per the assets declared before the Election Commission of India, Harsimrat has declared her assets worth Rs 217.99 crore, including Rs 100.30 crore movable and Rs 117.69 crore immovable.
Harsimrat, who retained the Food Processing Ministry during her second term as the Cabinet Minister as announced on Friday, is among six women Ministers and the only non-BJP leader inducted in the Union Cabinet.
Besides being the richest, Harsimrat has also topped the list of Ministers with highest liabilities. She has the total liabilities worth Rs 95.48 crore, including Rs 8.82 lakhs as disputed liabilities.
Wife of SAD president Sukhbir Badal, who was also elected from Firozpur Lok Sabha seat this election, Harsimrat’s declared assets in 2019 were her own, her husband’s, HUF and one dependent.
Out of the total movable assets, Sukhbir has over Rs 76 crore, while Harsimrat has nearly Rs 24.18 crore. Despite such riches, the Badals do not own a single car. In fact, Sukhbir owns a tractor costing Rs 2.38 lakh.
Harsimrat, seems to be fond of jewellery, owns jewellery worth Rs seven crore. Besides, she has also invested Rs 12.84 crore in various companies, including Orbit, Metro Eco Green Resorts Limited, and Dabwali Transport Limited.
Harsimrat owns agricultural and non-agricultural land worth nearly Rs 9.4 crore, while Sukhbir has the same worth nearly Rs 59 crore. In addition, Sukhbir also owns residential buildings worth nearly Rs 40 crore.
The gross value of their immovable assets is nearly Rs 117.67 crore, out of which Harsimrat owns assets worth nearly Rs 15.67 crore and Sukhbir Rs 102 crore. The couple has Rs 1.6 lakh as cash in hand.
Her assets, in comparison to her previous five-year term starting in 2014, were Rs 108.16 crore, and increased by Rs 109.82 crore at the rate of 102 percent — listed among the top five MPs, recontesting in 2019, with highest increase in assets.
Another Minister from Punjab, Bharatiya Janta Party’s Som Parkash, who was the poorest parliamentarian elected from the state, has declared assets worth Rs 2.94 crore. The first-time MP, the bureaucrat-turned-politician has succeeded in making it to the Union Cabinet in his first stint.
Parkash, who took oath as the Minister of State on Thursday, has been given the charge of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Ranking 39 in terms of assets, Parkash has total immovable property worth Rs 73.08 lakhs and immovable property worth Rs 2.20 crores, totalling Rs 2,94,04,519.