Strange as it might sound, Telugu Desam Party general secretary Nara Lokesh, son of Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, has suddenly grown richer by over Rs 315 crore within a short span of five months.
According to an affidavit submitted by Lokesh before the Election Commission while filing his nomination for the MLC seat on Monday, the total value of his assets stood at Rs 330 crore, including Rs 273.84 crore in the form of shares in Heritage Foods, fixed assets worth Rs 18 crore and ancestral property worth Rs 38.52 crore. Besides, he also declared loans worth Rs 6.27 crore.
Surprisingly, it was only in October last year that Lokesh declared his family assets as part of transparency in politics. In this declaration, he put the value of his own assets at just Rs 14.50 crore, including Rs 2.52 crore in the form of shares in Heritage, Rs 1.64 crore worth shares in other companies and a car worth Rs 93 lakh.
He also declared that he had loans worth Rs 6.35 crore. It does mean, the value of his assets has shot up by 23 times in five months!
May be, Lokesh might have grown richer after selling his shares, along with that of his family members in Heritage Foods, while selling its retail wing to the Future Group which runs Big Bazaar chain of supermarkets.
Heritage Foods owns only 3.5 per cent stake in this retail wing, which is pegged at around Rs 295 crore. Of it, Lokesh share must be definitely lower.
But, he still shows the value of shares held by him in the Heritage Foods has gone up from Rs 2.52 crore to Rs 273.84 crore? How is it possible?
