Koda haunted by charges of siphoning off Rs 4,000 cr

The former chief minister of Jharkhand, Madhu Koda, may be charged with embezzlement of funds to the tune of around Rs 4,000 crore, but the controversial leader has barely Rs 95,000 in cash and Rs 68 lakh in his bank account.

Together he has assets worth Rs 1.1 crore. At least, this is what he has declared in his affidavit submitted to the Election Commission.    

Koda is contesting the 2014 Assembly polls from Jharkhand’s Majhgaon constituency in West Singhbhum as a candidate of the little-known outfit, Jai Bharat Samanta Party.

Koda created a record in India’s political history in 2006 when he, as an Independent MLA from Jagannathpur, was sworn in as Jharkhand’s chief minister, while major political parties like Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress supported his regime.

Charged with taking bribes for illegally allotting iron ore and coal mines, Koda resigned in August 2008. In 2009, he was put behind bars where he cooled his heels till he was granted bail in 2013.

This year he is again testing the political waters from tribal-dominated Singhbhum district. In his affidavit submitted before the EC, Koda has declared assets worth Rs 1.1 crore, which includes his Rs 16-lakh LIC policy, which has already been seized by the Income Tax department probing corruption charges against him.

Koda, who was charged with distributing 500 motorcycles during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, has three bikes worth Rs 1.58 lakh, besides owning a Bolero worth Rs 3 lakh.

The man, whom the Enforcement Directorate accused of siphoning off Rs 4,000 crore by illegally allotting iron ore and coal mines, has just 263 gm of gold worth Rs 7.5 lakh.

Meanwhile, the BJP has urged the Election Commission to beef up security arrangements in all the 13 Assembly segments which will go to polls in the first phase on November 25. The request comes a day after the Maoists torched a BJP campaign vehicle in Gumla. The Maoists had asked local BJP leaders why they were campaigning when the CPI (Maoists) had given a poll boycott call. Following the spat, the Maoists torched the vehicle.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul are likely to campaign in Gumla and adjoining Palamu on November 23.