BJP’s Mumbai North MP Gopal Shetty’s assets increase by ₹6 crore in 5 years

The total assets of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Mumbai North MP Gopal Shetty have gone up by more than ₹6 crore — a 65% increase — from 2014, according to his affidavit filed with his nomination form.

Shetty’s total assets, which include movable and immovable property and savings, have gone up from ₹9.56 crore in 2014 to ₹15.78 crore in 2019. He has declared possession of 1.45kg of gold (estimated to be worth ₹45 lakh) which he owns with his dependent wife and mother.

Shetty has paid over Rs35.99 lakh as income tax from 2013-14 to 2017-18 and his dependent wife paid ₹21.24 lakh tax for the said period, the affidavit said.

While there are no agricultural or commercial properties registered under Shetty’s name, his wife, Usha Shetty, is a partner in two properties - a shop and a 1,000 sq ft flat in Kandivli (West). The MP’s name, however, appears on the property card of Siddheshwar Housing Society in Kandivli. The society came up as part of a Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) project but could ‘not be transferred to the residents due to some technicalities’ as per the affidavit, as a result of which its market value is stated as zero.

Shetty has declared liabilities in the form of bank loans amounting up to ₹2.1 crore, a shift from 2014 wherein he had declared zero liabilities. A total of nine ongoing cases in various police stations and courts have been declared by Shetty under his affidavit.

Taking a leaf out of the BJP’s ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ movement, Shetty’s nomination papers carried the signature of a security guard as a witness.