Talukder Khaleque's cash, assets grew in 5 yrs

The Awami League’s mayoral candidate in the upcoming Khulna City Corporation (KCC) election Talukder Abdul Khaleque’s assets and cash have grown over the last five years. However, his annual income has dwindled.

Talukder Abdul Khaleque has mentioned ‘business’ as his profession this time. However, he has no income from business. He mentioned a fish farm business in the affidavit he submitted five years ago during the last KCC polls.

The ruling party mayoral candidate has shown agriculture, interest from savings certificates and gratuity and allowances he gets as mayor as his sources of income.

Talukder Abdul Khaleque’s wife Habibun Nahar is the deputy minister of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Analysing the affidavit submitted by the incumbent KCC mayor, it has been learnt that deputy minister Habibun Nahar’s fixed assets have also grown simultaneously over the last five years. She is even ahead of her husband in terms of investments in savings certificates.

Talukder Abdul Khaleque submitted the affidavits

This information came up while comparing the affidavits submitted by the KCC mayor five years ago and now. Talukder Abdul Khaleque submitted the affidavit on 16 May for the upcoming mayoral election.

As per the affidavit, Talukder Abdul Khaleque has a total of Tk 47.9 million in cash, which was Tk 978,000 during the last KCC polls. As such, his cash has increased 49 times in the last five years. He had a shares of Tk 20 million five years ago. He does not hold the shares anymore.

However, Habibun Nahar’s cash has dwindled. She had a cash of Tk 21.5 million. However, she has Tk 7.36 million in cash now. Despite that, the size of her fixed assets has increased exponentially.

She had a bank deposit of more than Tk 2 million five years ago where she now has a deposit of over Tk 9.5 million in four banks. She also had a savings certificate and Fixed Deposit Receipt (FDR) of around Tk 2 million at the time. She now has a FDR of Tk 5 million.

The incumbent KCC mayor owns half of a house, including a piece of land, which is worth Tk 21.2 million. His wife owns the remaining half of the house. However, they did not have that house before the last KCC polls.

In addition, Talukder Abdul Khaleque’s wife has a plot in the Purbachal area under the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK). She also owns half of a five-storey building, including a piece of land. The value of that building has been shown at Tk 3.1 million. Besides, they have a loan of Tk 13.4 million with the Sir Iqbal Road branch of the Sonali Bank.

Among the fixed assets, Talukdar Khalek owns 23 bighas of agricultural land through ancestral line, another 3.21 acres of agricultural land and three kathas of non-agricultural land, worth some Tk 2.82 million in total. His wife had 25 bhoris of jewellery, which she inherited through. She still has the same amount of jewellery.

Speaking to Prothom Alo regarding this, Talukder Abdul Khaleque said, “I didn’t earn anything by illegal means. Everything has been done with my income from my gratuity. You are free to find if I had gained any property illegally.”

Talukder Abdul Khaleque earns nearly 3.9 million taka from agriculture, bank interest, gratuity and allowances as city mayor and house rents, which was nearly Tk 4.5 million five years ago. He has deposits of more than Tk 10 million in four banks and saving certificates and postal FDR worth 2.8 million taka. He had Tk 24.2 million in three banks and saving certificates and FDR of Tk 3.8 million in total.

Talukder Abdul Khaleque is a graduate. He had nine cases against him before. He was acquitted in four of these cases and was acquitted in the other five.

Shafiqul Islam has got the nomination from the Jatiya Party (JaPa) for the post of mayor in the upcoming KCC polls. He is also the president of Khulna district Jatiya Party. He is ahead of the remaining two mayoral candidates in terms of annual income. He earns Tk 9 million per year, of which Tk 186,000 comes from house rents and Tk 8.8 million from his contracting business.

Shafiqul’s fixed assets include a four katha-plot of land and a four-storey house in the city’s Sonadanga area. Among his liquid assets are Tk 15.2 million in cash and bank deposits and a FDR of Tk 30 million with the Khulna branch of Modhumoti Bank Limited. He also tops the other candidates in bank loans. He has a loan of Tk 522.6 million at the Khulna branch of the Modhumoti Bank Limited. He has declared him as self-taught in his affidavit. He is not accused in any case.

Among the three candidates, who were declared valid by the EC, Islami Andolan candidate Md Abdul Awal is ahead of the others in terms of educational qualification. However, he is lagging behind in assets and other factors as compared to the AL and JaPa candidate. He said in his affidavit that he is the principal of the Jamiya Rashidiya Madrasah in Goalkhali. He also mentioned business as his profession.

Abdul Awal earns a total of 331,000 taka from his business and teaching. He also has an fixed assets of 57 decimals of non-agricultural land. He has no case against him either.

The election to the Khulna City Corporation will be held on 12 June. A total of seven persons had submitted nomination papers for the post of KCC mayor. After verification, the returning officer discarded nomination papers of four among them.