Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar continues to remain the poorest serving chief minister in the country with a paltry sum of Rs 1520 cash in hand. On Monday, the veteran communist leader made his personal financial details public while filing nomination papers from the Dhanpur constituency for the upcoming assembly polls in the state.As per his latest affidavit, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) politburo member has a bank balance of just Rs 2410.16 as of January 20 this year, which is considerably less than Rs 9,720.38 he had in his account during the last elections in 2013.
Running for the sixth consecutive term, Sarkar is the longest serving chief minister of Tripura (he has been in the post since 1998). The 69-year old CPI(M) apparatchik donates his entire salary drawn as CM to the party fund. In turn, he receives a monthly allowance of Rs 10,000 from the party for his livelihood.
In his affidavit, Sarkar claims he has a non-agricultural land measuring 0.0118 acre in Agartala, jointly held with his siblings as the only inherited movable asset.
Interestingly, the five time chief minister of Tripura still does not carry a mobile phone. He may be facing a stiff challenge from the social media savvy Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in his own backyard, yet he does not have any social media presence or an email account.
According to his election declaration, his wife Panchali Bhattacharjee, a retired state government employee has Rs 20,140 cash in hand. Bhattacharjee has a total of Rs 12,15,714.78 in her bank accounts.
Sarkar and his wife live in a government accommodation provided by the state at the official chief minister’s quarter in Agartala. The chief minister’s wife is often spotted travelling in a rickshaw like most others in Agartala.