A study by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) published in 2023 pointed out that the assets of 71 parliamentarians in India had increased by around 286% in 10 years. All of them had served as MPs for a decade. At the all-India level, the highest increase was recorded in the case of the family assets of Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi, BJP MP from Vijayapura and veteran Dalit leader.
A look into his affidavits over the years, also taking into account the latest one he submitted ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, reveals some interesting facts. The assets acquired by Ramesh Jigajinagi and late wife Shobha saw a growth of 100 times in two decades. Mr. Jigajinagi, a career politician whose children run a solar farm, vineyards and wineries, has recorded a 4,189% increase in assets in 10 years, and around 10,000% in 20 years. Most of his assets are self-acquired.
He credits the aggressive growth to the escalation of land prices due to urbanisation.
He had declared assets of ₹54 lakh in 2004. They now have a total value of ₹54 crore. The increase is 10,000% over two decades. His assets had grown to around ₹1.18 crore in 2009. They went up to ₹8.94 crore in 2014, and further to ₹50.41 crore in 2019, registering an overall increase of 4,189%.
Mr. Jigajinagi is contesting his seventh Lok Sabha election from Vijayapura. He has served as a Union minister of state for drinking water and sanitation from 2016 to 2019. However, the growth in assets between 2019 and 2024 was marginal. His assets increased only by around ₹3 crore in these five years.
Mr. Jigajinagi explained it thus, “My assets have grown because the land value of my immovable assets has grown exponentially. My late wife Shobha Jigajinagi had bought some land far away from Vijayapura and Bengaluru several years ago. But with the expansion of Vijayapura, those areas became a part of the city and their value skyrocketed. Land prices in Bengaluru have been increasing greatly.”
Mr. Jigajinagi was born to Chandappa, a landless labourer from Atharga village in undivided Bijapur district. He earned a BA degree and became a loyal follower of Ramakrishna Hegde, Janata Parivar leader and former CM. He has contrested 10 elections and lost only one. He is among the few leaders to have won elections as a candidate of different parties. He won the Chikkodi Lok Sabha seat as a candidate of Janata Party, Janata Dal and Lok Shakti. He has won the last three parliamentary polls on the BJP ticket. He joined the BJP after the death of his mentor in 2004.
