Here comes Incredible India – 21.

Nearly 40 years after Indira Gandhi took on Morarji Desai, Sanjiva Reddy, Nijalingappa, Kamaraj and other members of the Congress old guard with Garibi Hatao, the Congress (R) slogan in the 1971 elections, India’s politicians have managed to accomplish that herculean feat, albeit only for themselves.

So what if India is still a poor country. At least, India’s netas (political leaders) are no longer poor.

Here’s a look at the assets of some of our prominent Indian leaders:

* Orissa may be a poor, backward state. But Orissa’s leaders are anything but poor. Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s assets comes to about Rs 7.98 crore.

*  Nationalist Congress Party leader Supriya Sule (Sharad Pawar’s daughter) has declared assets of Rs 52.73 crore (includes assets of both Supriya and her husband). God, how can people make a living on such meagre assets.

* Our heart goes out to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The poor Italian-Indian bahu has neither a car nor a house. The woman, however, has 88kg of silverware valued at Rs 18.37 lakh and jewelry worth Rs 11.08 lakh. Sonia’s assets come to a mere Rs 1.38 crore.

* Oh, no. We are not ignoring our South Indian politicians. Chandrababu Naidu and family reportedly have assets of Rs 68.70 crore.

* Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi has assets valued at over Rs 100 crore.

* Schmuck, you thought Azmi’s assets of Rs 124 crore was big. Congress Member of Parliament from Andhra Pradesh Lagadapati Rajagopal declared assets of Rs 299 crore (no typo).

We ware waiting for the Rs 1,000 crore Indian politician. Surely, there must be someone out there with that dubious distinction.

Now, you know why Indian politicians hanker after Z-class security. They are not scared of the terrorists but fearful that one of their own will pump some bullets into their chest.

The extraordinary wealth of India’s political class is a very worrisome development because it’s hard to believe that such wealthy people have any empathy or anything in common with the country’s vast poor or middle class.

By the way, what was that 1971 slogan – Garibi Hatao or Garib Hatao.

Mera Bharat Mahan.