Bengaluru: In a bid to blunt the Opposition onslaught on him over corruption charges, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has declared his assets which includes a bank balance of nearly Rs 34 lakh and three residential buildings.
Furnishing the statement of assets and liabilities in a declaration yesterday to BJP President Nitin Gadkari, Yeddyurappa said he has gold and diamond jewellery weighing 2.596 kg, up from 1.6 kg in April 2008 when he filed his affidavit before the Election Commission on April 24, 2008, during filing of nominations for the Assembly elections.
The declaration said he has silverware vessels and ornaments (own and gift items) weighing 76 kg, compared to 25 kg in April 2008.
Yeddyurappa also declared that neither he as chief minister nor any of his family members have any accounts in Swiss banks or in any other country's tax havens.
As on January 31, 2011, Yeddyurappa had bank balance of nearly Rs 33.5 lakh and household goods, furniture and electronic items worth Rs 10.45 lakh.
"Hope you may find the above (the statement) as per the order required," he said in the letter to Gadkari, which was released to the media by the chief minister's secretariat today.
The declaration comes amid repeated allegations of corruption and nepotism in land denotification and deals levelled against Yeddyurappa and his family members, as also the government by JDS and Congress, and BJP's clamour at the central level for bringing back black money stashed abroad.
Yeddyurappa listed agriculture and non-agriculture properties owned by him, along with gold and diamond jewellery and silverware vessels and ornaments, but did not mention the value of these assets.
The chief minister, whose prosecution on corruption charges was sanctioned by Governor H R Bhardwaj in a controversial action recently, owns 18.23 acres of agriculture land in his native Shikaripura taluk and an independent house on a 50X80 plot here, allotted by Bangalore Development Authority in 1997.
Yeddyurappa has two residential buildings in Shikaripura, where he also owns 9.12 acres of agriculture land which was converted for industrial purpose.
Facing intense Opposition heat, the BJP government has ordered a judicial enquiry into land denotification, an issue which the anti-corruption body Lokayukta is also probing.
On February 1, pledging to set an example in the fight against black money, BJP-led NDA had said it would direct its chief ministers and senior most leaders to declare to the government that they had no money stashed abroad.
The Opposition alliance had also said its leaders should detail their assets and tell the government that it can "seize any black money they have."