Mumbai: Forget the steep hike given by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to its ‘overworked’ corporators (half of them are not even college graduates), and take a look at the mind-boggling assets of some the BMC corporators. With the jaw-dropping assets of Rs 689.95 crore at his disposal, Parag Shah has emerged as the richest candidate in the BMC polls. Not just of corporators, even the assets of MLAs and MPs are likely to look meagre when compared with his wealth. While there is no clear second richest, but former mayor Shraddha Jadhav, a Shiv Sena candidate, has an asset of Rs 42 crore.
In the affidavit filed to the State Election Commission (SEC), Mr Shah (47), a BJP candidate from Ghatkopar has declared assets, which include annual family income of Rs 3.38 crore, movable family property of Rs 670 crore and immovable family property of Rs 19.38 crore.
Mr Shah, who is one of the prominent developers in the city, is taking on Pravin Chheda, a senior Congress corporator and a leader of opposition in the BMC from Ghatkopar (ward no 132).
Mr Shah is among the richest persons in the country. He appears at number 252 in the list of 500 richest people in India 2016. “Not just by wealth, but I am also rich at heart,” said Mr Shah with a tongue in cheek. “On a serious note, I was aware that I would be one of the richest candidates when I decided to contest the polls.”
Mr Shah, who is the managing director of Man Infraconstruction, has his business interests in infrastructure and real estate. “We are mainly into port development. We have developed ports at Mumbai, Goa, Cochin, Pipavav, Mundra etc. In addition to this, our real estate projects are at several places – Dahisar, Mulund, Chembur, Sion, Ghatkopar in the city,” he said.
When asked about the official spending limit of Rs 10 lakh set for the candidates in polls, Mr Shah said, “People in ward no 132 are educated and there is no need to spend much to attract them. I am only concentrating on meeting and apprising them about my works,” he said. Mr Shah is close to Prakash Mehta, a local MLA and minister of housing. The BJP has made it as a prestige issue to defeat Mr Chheda, a former BJP man who had switched his loyalties to Congress.
