A complaint has been sent to Lokpal demanding an investigation into allegations of gain of illegal property against former Union Minister and MP Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti. The complainant against Jyoti, who last held the portfolio of Minister of State for Rural Development, is Amitabh Thakur, a former IAS officer-turned-politician.
This comes on the heels of an allegation by Mukhlal Pal, the Fatehpur district president of the BJP against whom his party has conducted an inquiry into the alleged taking of a Rs 50 lakh bribe. Pal has in turn accused other BJP leaders, including Jyoti of conspiring against him; and also that they too had a hand in the transaction.
Thakur has attached Jyoti’s election affidavits of 2014, 2019 and 2024 to support his complaint.
According to these affidavits, in the year 2014, her total property was about 25 lakhs, which increased by Rs 45 lakhs to 70 lakhs by the year 2019. Her total income in these five years stands at Rs 24 lakhs. According to the affidavit of the year 2024, her assets increased from Rs 1.2 crore to Rs 1.9 crore between 2019 and 2024; but her total income in these five years was only Rs 33 lakh.
Thakur has termed this as ‘very suspicious’ and written to the Lokpal to investigate.
Samajwadi Party president, Akhilesh Yadav has also taken a jibe at Jyoti wondering how someone could have acquired 300 bighas of property and 50 dumpers in the decade that the complaint refers to. This is the figure that Pal had quoted in his defence when confronted with the bribe allegations.
Jyoti, is no stranger to controversies. In 2014 she had, in a public rally, asked that it was up to the people to decide whether they wanted to be governed by Ramzade (the sons of Ram) or ‘Haramzade’ (bastards). Despite a huge uproar, she was not stripped of her ministerial post just then.
