Delhi Elections: BJP Critiques Kejriwal's Affidavit on Wealth

New Delhi, Jan 16 (NationPress) Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva on Thursday raised questions regarding how Arvind Kejriwal, a former officer who has held the positions of Chief Minister and MLA, could report an average annual income of only Rs 2.5 lakh, as stated in his election affidavit.

Sachdeva, along with Media Head Praveen Shankar Kapoor and Nitin Tyagi, expressed skepticism about the purported manipulation of numbers within the affidavit concerning the AAP leader’s earnings.

According to Sachdeva, Kejriwal's reported income from 2013-14 to 2024-25 in his affidavit dated January 15, 2025, does not correspond with actual earnings.

The affidavit, scrutinized by the Delhi BJP, was submitted by Kejriwal on Wednesday together with his nomination documents for the New Delhi constituency.

Sachdeva pointed out that Kejriwal was first elected as an MLA in 2013, serving until November 4, 2014. Since February 2015, he has been serving continuously as an MLA. In his tax returns for 2013-14, Kejriwal indicated that his MLA salary was his primary income source.

Interestingly, during the fiscal year 2013-14, he would have only received two months of Chief Minister's salary and allowances, followed by the regular MLA salary and allowances from March 2014 to November 4, 2014.

Upon being re-elected in February 2015, Kejriwal received the Chief Minister's salary and allowances until September 17, 2024, when he resigned. He would have continued to earn his MLA salary thereafter.

Sachdeva noted that prior to the February 2023 salary increase, the Delhi Chief Minister earned Rs 72,000 monthly, which increased to Rs 1,70,000 following the hike.

During his tenure as a regular MLA for seven months in 2014-15, he earned Rs 55,000 monthly. After September 17, 2015, his MLA salary rose to Rs 90,000 monthly.

To demonstrate the alleged discrepancies in Kejriwal's income declarations, Sachdeva cited that the AAP leader reported an income of Rs 7,42,884 for 2014-15, despite serving as an MLA for only nine months that year.

In 2015-16, when his salary, including allowances, was Rs 72,000 monthly, he declared an annual income of merely Rs 2,46,946. Similar figures were noted in 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19.

In 2019-20, his income unexpectedly dropped to Rs 1,57,823, which is significantly lower than the taxable basic salary of Rs 3,60,000 annually as Chief Minister, he stated.

Kejriwal’s income for 2020-21 raises substantial concerns, showing a 40-fold increase to Rs 44,90,040 during a period when incomes worldwide decreased due to COVID-19, he remarked.

Sachdeva indicated that Kejriwal's new liquor policy was developed during 2020-21, alongside unaccounted expenditures for the construction of the “Sheesh Mahal” during this timeframe.

In the following fiscal year, 2021-22, Kejriwal’s income dropped drastically to Rs 1,62,976, and in 2022-23, despite the CM salary increase, his income remained relatively stagnant at Rs 1,67,066. In 2023-24, however, his income surged six-fold to Rs 7,21,530.

Sachdeva emphasized that the residents of Delhi are seeking clarification from Kejriwal regarding the peculiarities in his income growth during 2020-21 (40-fold) and 2023-24 (6-fold), especially since he designates his MLA salary as his sole income source.