Hyderabad, Sep 13 (IANS) Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu's family assets have come down from about Rs.40 crore last year to Rs.35.59 crore this year.
The former Andhra Pradesh chief minister's personal assets are valued only at Rs.31.97 lakh, down from Rs.39.88 lakh last year.
Naidu's wife Bhuvaneswari, who heads the family's business venture Heritage Foods, owns assets worth Rs.24.57 crore. Last year, she had assets with net value of Rs. 27.18 crore.
She also has loans and advances amounting to Rs.17.38 crore, up from Rs.12.38 crore last year.
Naidu's son N. Lokesh is worth Rs.6.62 crore against Rs.6.82 crore declared last year.
Lokesh's wife Brahmani, daughter of Naidu's brother-in-law and leading Telugu film actor Nanadamuri Balakrishna, has assets of Rs.2.09 crore in her name. Last year, she had assets worth Rs.3.22 crore.
Naidu told reporters here Thursday that the houses and cars purchased by the family between 1982 and 1992 are in his name. He also clarified that the value of his assets was calculated as per the acquisition cost and not the market value as the latter varied from time to time.
The leader of opposition in the state assembly said he had been declaring the assets every year and suggested that all leaders make their assets public to bring transparency in public life.
Naidu, who was chief minister from 1995 to 2004, alleged that Congress party leaders were making baseless allegations that he owns assets worth Rs.2,000 crore. He challenged his rivals to prove that he owns a hotel in Singapore.
The TDP chief, who had declared his assets in September last year in the wake of Anna Hazare's crusade against corruption, remarked that the social activist lost his credibility after floating a political party.
