Calling oneself “Chowkidar” is now a fad among Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politicians. However, these self-proclaimed watchmen can hardly grasp the reality of being part of the profession. A watchman, who earns a salary as low as Rs 1,500 a month, can never dream of amassing even a fraction of the wealth these political watchmen possess.
Piyush Goyal, the present Railways and Coal minister in the Modi cabinet, is one among the coterie of BJP politicians who have answered the rallying call of the Prime Minister to call himself watchman on twitter.
As per a declaration submitted by Goyal on March 31, 2018, his movable assets including cars, jewellery, bank balance and loans amount to more than Rs 26,33,55,460 (Rs 26.33 crore).
Goyal had Rs four lakh cash-in-hand while his bank balance was more than Rs 69 lakh.
He owns cars worth Rs 83,04,410 (Rs 83 lakh) and jewellery worth a whopping Rs 2,27,04,598 (Rs 2 crore 27 lakh). He had declared loans amounting to over Rs 11,13,12,444 (Rs 11.13 crore).
Also Read: Rs 1.5 Crore in Bank, 6 Houses, Diamonds Worth Rs 45 Lakh: Chowkidar Arun Jaitley in 2018
The market value of Goyal’s flat at Sion (West) in Mumbai was over Rs 3,28,44,000 (Rs 3 crore 28 lakh). Goyal’s total assets stood at Rs 29,61,99,460 (over Rs 29 crore 61 lakh).
He had declared liabilities worth Rs 23 lakh.
Goyal has more money in his bank account than a watchman can ever earn in his whole life on meagre salaries. Perhaps, BJP leaders should spare some thought before appropriating the “chowkidar” tag for cheap publicity and political campaigning.
Also Read: 12 Kg Gold, Mercedes, Crores in Bank: Self-Proclaimed Chowkidar Kirron Kher In 2014