CPN (Maoist Centre) Pushpa Kamal Dahal seems to be the second poorest prime minister—after Nepali Congress’ Sushil Koirala—the country has ever got if the property details furnished by him and comparison made with available statistics are anything to go by.

The property details submitted by PM Dahal on Wednesday, four months after he was elected, says he owns just one katha (338.57 square metres) land and three tola (approximately 34 grams) gold. No cash, no bank balance.

The one katha land that he has mentioned is in the name of his wife Sita Dahal. The property is in Bharatpur, Chitwan and ancestral. The gold that he owns is also ancestral property, according to his property details. 

When then NC president Sushil Koirala disclosed his property in 2014, he had mentioned two mobile sets as all he owned, which had drawn international headlines. 

The property detail form submitted by PM Dahal does not mention his bank account.

He draws Rs 77,000 as monthly salary and there are other perks and benefits, including allowances during foreign visits, but none of them have been mentioned. 

Dahal’s property details as second-time prime minister could jog many people’s memory. Years after the country voted in a Maoist-led government after ousting the monarchy in 2008, Dahal had become a focus of criticism for relinquishing the proletarian ideals and living like a king. His taste for luxury—an expensive mansion, penchant for high-end watches, extravagant bed—had even become international headlines.

Members of his government, however, are not that poor. 

Deepak Bohara is one wealthy minister with 120 tola gold, 2 sets of diamond jewelry, 500 tola silver, Rs 1 million cash and another half million cash with his wife Unnati Bohara. He also owns three houses in Kathmandu worth Rs 32 million. Besides, he has $19, 226 in Himalayan Bank and over Rs 13 million in other banks. He also owns several ropanis of land in Kavre and Kathmandu.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Bimalendra Nidhi is also one of the richest members in Dahal’s government with 60 tola gold, 150 tola silver; Rs 1.96 million cash; Rs 2.9 million in bank accounts; 1.35 million to be recovered; 2,160 units share in various banks and financial institutions; 1.13 ropani land in Bhaktapur and 19 bigha land in Dhanusha district. 

How rich are our ministers 

-     Pushpa Kamal Dahal: 3 tola gold, one katha land 

-     Bimalendra Nidhi: 60 tola gold,150 tola silver; Rs 1.96 million cash; 2.9 million in bank accounts; 1.35 million to be recovered; 2,160 units share in various banks and financial institutions; 1.13 ropani land in Bhaktapur, 19 bigha land in Dhanusha district 

-     Krishna Bahadur Mahara: Rs 80,000 cash, eight ropani land

-     Prakash Sharan Mahat:  30 tola gold, 1,500 tola sliver; one house in Kathmandu; five bigha and 80 ropani land; Rs 5.1 million cash; 125,000 units share, Rs 3 billion loan, one vehicle 

-     Arjun Nursingh KC: 50 tola gold, 225 tola sliver; over Rs 15 million cash, 65 ropani land, one vehicle 

-     Bal K Khand: 40 tola gold, 60 tola sliver; land plots in  Kathmandu and Rupandehi, Rs 1.4 million cash; shares worth Rs 7 million,  3 vehicles

-     Janardan Sharma: Two tola gold, 20 tola sliver; all 48 ropani land in Rukum was sold at Rs 6 million;  Rs 1 million cash, 5,000 units share in People’s Hydro; one agro-based firm with 10 cows, one laptop, one watch, one cupboard, some furniture items, one camera, two mobile sets and one TV set

-     Surendra Karki: 10 tola gold; house and land in Sikkim India in the name of wife, 5 ropani land in Okhaldhunga and Bhaktapur,  Rs 1. 3 million cash; two laptops; one iPad and one iPhone

-     Deepak Bohara: 120 tola gold, 2 sets of diamond jewelry, 500 tola silver; Rs 1 million cash; half a million rupees in cash with his wife; three houses in Kathmandu worth Rs 32 million; land in Kavre and Kathmandu, $19, 226 in Himalayan Bank; 

Rs 13 million cash in several bank accounts. 

-     Ramesh Lekhak: 30 tola gold, 50 tola sliver; one bigha and 15 ropani land; over half million rupees cash; 20,700 unit shares in various firms and companies; Rs 1.5 million loan, two motorcycles and cattle

-     Dipak Giri: 50 tola gold, 1.5 kg sliver; 3 sets of diamond; five houses in Kathmandu and Dang, six bigha and two ropani land, Rs 39,400 cash, 25 percent share in two crusher industries, one vehicle