Did Narendra Modi omit details of his land assets in his election affidavits?

A public-interest litigation filed today in the Supreme Court of India claims that Prime Minister Narendra Modi omitted crucial details regarding land assets in his election affidavits. The petition has been filed by Saket Gokhale, a former journalist who now works as an independent communications and marketing consultant. In an election affidavit filed in 2007, Modi declared that he was the sole owner of Plot 411, in Sector 1, Gandhinagar, in Gujarat. Mentions of this plot are, however, missing from Modi’s subsequent election affidavits—filed in 2012 and 2014—and declarations he has made on the official prime minister’s website every year since he was appointed to the post. Publicly available land records state that Modi is the present and sole owner of Plot 411.

In the affidavits and filings since 2012, Modi has declared that he is a “1/4th” owner of “Plot 401/A” in the same sector. At the time of publishing, no such plot was listed in the Gujarat revenue department’s land records for Gandhinagar.