With assets worth Rs 1,230 crore, Naveen Jindal the richest BJP candidate in Haryana

Jindal got involved in the Coalgate scam in 2012, and has currently six cases, according to his election affidavit. He has been accused of getting undue preferences in coal mine allocations to his companies. Besides, Jindal has three FIRs registered against him by the CBI and another three under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

As per the election affidavit filed by Jindal, he and his wife Shallu Jindal possess over 19.8 kilograms of gold jewellery, bullion and other valuables with a total value of Rs 41.11 crore. The overall value of the movable assets of Naveen, his wife and under the Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) is approximately over Rs 1,230 crore, including Rs 886.73 crore for Naveen, Rs 114.61 crore for Shallu Jindal and Rs 229.06 crore under the HUF.

The immovable assets of Naveen Jindal have been valued at Rs 11.05 crore.

Besides, Jindal has registered a consistent growth over the past few years. According to his income tax returns for 2018-19, Jindal declared his total income at Rs 11.23 crore, which increased to Rs 74.83 crore in 2022-23.

Despite all these assets, neither Naveen nor his wife owns a motor vehicle in their name.

Naveen, the youngest son of renowned industrialist Om Prakash and Savitri Jindal, was born in 1970. Besides various other conglomerates, Naveen heads Jindal Steel and Power Limited and OP Jindal University. For 2006, the World Economic Forum included Naveen Jindal as one of the top 25 Indians on the annual list of 250 global young leaders.

Naveen remained politically inactive for the past few years until recently switched over to the BJP.

Jindal had represented the Kurukshetra constituency in the Lok Sabha for two terms — 2004 and 2009 — as a Congress nominee. However, he lost to BJP’s Raj Kumar Saini in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and the Congress did not field him in 2019.

In 2009, Naveen got 45.36 per cent of the total votes polled in Kurukshetra and defeated Indian National Lok Dal’s candidate Ashok Arora. However, his vote share reduced to 25.33 per cent in 2014 when he finished a distant third and BJP’s Raj Kumari Saini won, securing 36.81 per cent votes. In 2019, BJP Nayab Singh Saini (the incumbent Chief Minister of Haryana) had won Kurukshetra, securing more than 55.98 per cent of the total votes polled.

It was also due to Jindal’s almost a decade-long battle that the Supreme Court gave a landmark judgment in 2004 saying that every citizen of the country has the right to fly the national flag with respect, dignity and honour, thus it became the right of every citizen. The decision prompted the Central Government to amend the National Flag Code.

In December 2009, Naveen got the Flag Code amended once again and secured permission to fly the national flag even during night hours.

Before December 2009, flying the national flag during the night was normally not allowed. Flag mounted on a 100-foot-high flagpole or above could be flown even during nights when adequately illuminated.

Based on his campaign, the Lok Sabha on February 18, 2010 decided to allow Members of Parliament to wear Lapel Pins displaying the national flag on their person in the House.

Jindal says he joined BJP because he “wants to contribute to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agenda of Viksit Bharat” and also because “the country has progressed under PM Modi’s leadership in the past 10 years and many historic steps were taken, including abrogation of Article 370 and fulfilling the dream of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya”.