Karnataka rebel MLA MTB Nagaraj’s assets grew by Rs 185 crore in 18 months

25.84% of this wealth was made over six days in August – just a fortnight after he helped the fall of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government

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Karnataka’s richest politician MTB Nagaraj got richer by Rs 185.7 crore in a span of just 18 months, his latest affidavit shows. MTB Nagaraj was one of the 17 rebel MLAs from Congress and JD(S), whose defection in July led to the fall of the coalition government headed by HD Kumaraswamy, making way for the BJP to clinch power in the state. Curiously, his affidavit for the upcoming bye-election in Hoskote, where he is contesting on a BJP ticket, shows 53 term deposits mainly between August 2 and 7, amounting to over Rs 48 crore.

This amount is over 25.84% of the total increase in Nagaraj’s wealth in this 18-month period.

According to the latest affidavit, Nagaraj and his wife Shanthakumari are worth Rs 1201.50 crore. This is a 15.5% increase in his wealth compared to the assets he declared in May 2018, ahead of the Karnataka Assembly election. A comparison of Nagaraj’s affidavits filed in 2018 and 2019 show that his movable assets increased by Rs 104.53 crore. His wife, Shanthakumari’s movable assets increased by Rs 44.95 crore.

On July 27, and between August 2 and 7, there were 53 term deposits made in Canara Bank, most of them upward Rs 90 lakh each. While there are also other term deposits in his account, those are reflected in his earlier affidavits too.

So how did MTB Nagaraj accumulate so much money in such a short span of time, his detractors ask.

MTB Nagaraj

Assets 2019 (Rs) 2018 (Rs) Difference (Rs) Shanthakumari

Assets 2019 (Rs) 2018 (Rs) Difference (Rs) Cash in hand 43,44,927 6,67,532 36,77,395 Cash in hand 4,50,000 4,89,999 -39,999 Savings account 4,53,32,109 5,39,58,205 -86,26,096 Savings account 27,04,502 62,19,616 -35,15,114 Term Deposit 1,34,56,45,966 1,21,85,13,172 12,71,32,794 Term Deposit 32,40,00,000 20,13,97,420 12,26,02,580 Capital Investment 5,85,42,394 48,00,84,661 -42,15,42,267 Capital Investment 94,69,15,241 93,55,39,055 1,13,76,186 Capital investment 2,84,60,605 2,87,75,817 -3,15,212 Capital Investment 4,49,08,558 4,49,08,558 Nil Personal loans given 2,71,80,65,734 2,33,79,47,741 38,01,17,993 Personal loans given 31,27,38,486 26,00,000 31,01,38,486 Motor vehicles 2,54,13,964 2,14,46,887 39,67,077 Motor vehicles 1,72,82,434 1,72,82,434 Nil Jewellery 2,23,32,813 2,23,32,813 Nil Jewellery 1,72,82,434 1,72,82,434 Nil Any other assets 6,46,429 6,46,429 Nil Any other assets Nil Nil Nil Total movable assets 4,24,97,84,941 3,14,75,54,785 1,04,53,08,946 Total movable assets 1,67,34,57,406 1,22,40,09,258 44,94,48,148 Agricultural land 31,09,73,302 30,86,75,504 22,97,798 Agricultural land 26,40,00,000 24,00,00,000 24,000,000 Non-agricultural land 3,09,86,16,103 2,81,26,45,728 28,59,70,375 Non-agricultural land 94,47,07,500 85,88,25,000 8,58,82,500 Commercial buildings 39,65,30,431 39,65,30,431 Nil Commercial buildings 28,10,00,000 28,10,00,000 Nil Residential buildings 39,14,89,146 42,85,01,646 -3,70,12,500 Residential buildings 40,44,87,000 46,02,87,000 -5,58,00,000 Total immovable assets 4,19,76,08,982 3,94,63,53,309 25,12,55,673 Total immovable assets 1,89,41,94,500 1,84,01,12,000 5,40,82,500 Total assets 8,44,73,93,923 7,09,39,08,094 1,29,65,64,619 Total assets 3,56,76,51,906 3,06,41,21,258 50,35,30,648

*In MTB Nagaraj's affidavit copy, the gross total value of movable assets was mentioned as Rs 4,19,28,63,731. However, when TNM calculated the total value, we got the figure of Rs 4,24,97,84,941

Both Congress and JD(S) have alleged multiple times that all MLAs, who defected, were paid close to Rs 50 crore. Nagaraj and another former Congress MLA, Dr K Sudhakar, had resigned from their posts as MLAs on July 10. Between July 10 and 15, Nagaraj had held talks with senior Congress leaders and had said that he would withdraw his resignation, if Sudhakar did too.

Just when Congress leaders were expecting Nagaraj to stick by the party, on July 15, he announced that there was no question of him taking back his resignation. He also boarded a private charter plane along with Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa’s assistant Santhosh after making the statement.

MTB Nagaraj boarding the private charter plane to Mumbai on July 15

The coalition government fell after Kumaraswamy lost the vote of confidence on July 23. BS Yediyurappa took oath as the Chief Minister on July 26. Three days later, the rebels returned to Bengaluru from their luxury-hotel stay in Mumbai.

Four days later, the first string of transactions amounting to Rs 13.91 crore were made in the form of 15 term deposits in MTB Nagaraj’s name. A couple of days later, Rs 18.61 crore was deposited as 21 different term deposits. On August 5, Rs 14.86 crore was deposited as 16 term deposits, and finally on August 7, Rs 92.91 lakh was deposited as a term deposit. Each deposit that was made into these bank accounts was over Rs 90 lakh, but short of Rs 1 crore.