Rs 14.5 cr to Rs 330 cr in 5 months! Curious case of Chandrababu Naidu's son's assets

Telugu Desam Party general secretary Lokesh Nara, son of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, has really lucked out!

In just five months, Lokesh’s assets have increased from Rs 14.5 crore to Rs 330 crore, according to a report in The Hindustan Times.  

Lokesh, who filed his nomination papers for an MLC seat on Monday, submitted an affidavit to election authorities, indicating that the total value of his assets is around Rs 330 crore, including Rs 273.84 crore in the form of shares in Heritage Foods, fixed assets worth Rs 18 crore and ancestral property worth Rs 38.52 crore. Besides, he had loans of Rs 6.27 crore.

The details of assets submitted by Lokesh look strikingly different when compared with the declared assets of his family on October 19, 2016.

As part of “transparent” declaration of his family assets every year, he said the total value of properties owned by him was only Rs 14.50 crore, including Rs 2.52 crore in the form of shares in Heritage, Rs 1.64 crore worth shares in other companies and a car worth Rs 93 lakh. He also declared that he had taken loans of Rs 6.35 crore.

Interestingly, Heritage Foods, which is owned by Lokesh’s family sold its retail business in November to Kishore Biyani’s retail chain, which includes Big Bazaar supermarts.

And it’s not only Lokesh’s assets that have seen a spike. Lokesh’s wife Nara Brahmani’s assets have also increased five-fold in the last few months. 

In October, Brahmani’s assets were Rs 5.38 crore, but presently he has declared them to be Rs 28 crore. His son Devansh’s assets remained the same at Rs 11.7 crore.

Image: Lokesh Nara, son of Chandrababu Naidu, declared his assets in an election affidavit. Photograph: Lokesh Nara/Facebook