Sonia Gandhi 12th richest leader in world: Huffington Post

[Siddu Pundikal]

New Delhi, Dec 2: Congress president
Sonia Gandhi, whose nomination papers
show that she owns neither a car or a
home in India, is the 12th richest
political leader in the world, says a
report in Huffington Post World.
Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia,
tops the list with riches worth USD 40
million, followed by Bhumibol
Adulyadej, the king of Thailand, and
Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei.
The Indian Congress leader is followed
by Albert II, the Prince of Monaco, who
is worth USD 1 billion. Qaboos bin Said,
the Sultan of Oman, and Teodoro Obiang
Nguema Mbasogo, the president of
Equatorial Guinea, are next on the list.
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is 16th
on the list with riches worth USD 550
million. And Elizabeth II, the Queen of
England, ranks 18th in the list with
riches worth USD 400 million to USD 500
million.
Gandhi, while filing her nomination for
the Lok Sabha election in 2009, had
declared that she owns neither a car nor
a house in India. However, she had
mentioned owning an ancestral home in
Italy valued at Rs 18.02 lakhs.
Sonia Gandhi's assets, according to the
affidavit, totalled Rs 1.38 crore, nearly
Rs 1 crore less than what her son Rahul
Gandhi reportedly had.
Sonia Gandhi's affidavit says that she
had Rs 75,000 in cash and Rs 28.61 lakh
in bank deposits. In addition, she had
mutual funds worth about Rs 20 lakh
and Rs12 lakh in Reserve Bank of India
bonds. A sum of Rs 199,000 was
deposited in post offices and Rs 24.88
lakh with the Public Provident Fund.
Sonia Gandhi's jewellery, weighing about
2.5 kg, was valued at Rs 11 lakh while 88
kg of silver possessed by her was stated
to be worth about Rs 18 lakh.
She owns two plots of agricultural land
totalling up to about 15 bighas and
valued at Rs 219,000. Their location is
not mentioned in the affidavit.
Sonia Gandhi paid Rs 558,000 in income
tax for the assessment year 2008-09 and
Rs 32,512 in wealth tax.
However, the report in Huffington Post
World claims Sonia Gandhi has USD 2
billion wealth.
The report does not mention how it
arrived at the conclusion of .
For comparison, each country's GDP per
capita is juxtaposed with a leader's
personal net worth, just to show how
different life is for the haves and have-
nots, says the website.