Gopal Shetty, Mumbai North: Mired in corruption charges and controversies, MP seeks another term

Despite a perfect attendance record in Parliament, participation in several debates and private member bills to his credit, the term of the MP has been tarnished by corruption charges and controversies. He has nine pending criminal cases.

Gopal Chinnaya Shetty became an MP for the first time in 2014, when he won the Mumbai North constituency as a candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The constituency has previously seen the likes of veteran politicians such as Ram Naik (present governor of Uttar Pradesh ) and Bollywood actor Govinda being elected. Shetty’s win in 2014 marked a win for a BJP candidate after two terms, the previous two elections having been won by Congress candidates.

Shetty has served the party in various capacities. He is a three-time Corporator and a two-time MLA from Borivali constituency. In 2014, he defeated sitting MP Sanjay Nirupam (INC) by a large margin of over 4 lakh votes upon receiving 70.15% of the votes.

He will be contesting from the same constituency in the Lok Sabha elections in Mumbai on April 29th and filed his nomination on April 2, 2019.

Personal Information

  • Name – Gopal Chinnaya Shetty
  • Age – 65
  • Constituency – Mumbai North
  • Party- BJP
  • Term– 2014- present
  • Address–  701, Soma Tower, Gulmohar Society, R.M Bhattad Marg, Chikuwadi, Boriwali West, Mumbai- 400092
  • Educational Qualification– Non matric (7th standard)
  • Profession– Business [Labour jobs for machinery part repair and plastic items]
  • Email helpdeskgopalshetty@gmail.com
  • Contact +91 9869011267
  • Twitter@iGopalShetty

Assets and Liabilities

2014 2019
Movable Assets Rs 3,44,51,703 Rs 5,94,20,029
Immovable Assets Rs 6,11,66,186 Rs 9,81,15,203
Total Rs 9,56,17,889 Rs 15,75,35,232
Liabilities NIL Rs 2,11,36,135

Shetty’s total assets have grown by 64% in the last 5 years.

Source-myneta.info (2014); eci.gov.in (2019)

Pending Criminal Cases 

There are nine pending criminal cases against Shetty. These include several offences under the IPC, including 1 charge related to criminal intimidation(IPC section 506), 2 charges related to disobedience of order promulgated by public servant(IPC section 332), 2 charges related to being member of an unlawful assembly(IPC section 143), 2 charges related to punishment for rioting( IPC section 147); and several others.

Positions held

  • 1 Sep 2014 onward-  Member standing committee on Finance; Member, consultative committee, Ministry of Textile.
  • 11 May 2016 onward-  Member, Joint Committee on the Enforcement of Security Interest and       Recovery of Debt Laws and Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment Bill) 2011.
  • May 2018 onward- Member, Public Account Committee.

Source- Lok Sabha

MP Performance

Shetty has done well in Parliament attendance, participation in debates, and introduction of Private Members Bill. He is one among nine MPs to have a 100 percent attendance record.

MP Attendance No of Debates No of Questions Asked Private Members Bill
Gopal Shetty 100% 119 465 32
National Average  80% 67.1 293 2.3
State (Maharashtra)  Average 78% 68.6 607 4.8

 Shetty has introduced 32 private member bills in the Parliament, all of which are pending. Some of the bills that he had introduced are:

Shetty has participated in several debates and especially those related to his constituency and the state of Maharashtra. These include:

For a complete list of the debates and private member bills by Gopal Shetty click here.

Source: PRS Legislative Research

MPLAD Funds

Shetty has not been able to put to use any of the amounts under the MPLAD Funds, as per the works monitoring system register.

Recommended Amount  Rs 4,49,14,000
Sanctioned Amount 0
Utilized Amount 0

Shetty has recommended the following types of works in his constituency. 53 works in different areas of the constituency have been recommended, but none has been sanctioned.

  • Common work sheds for artisans
  • Public toilets and bathrooms
  • Computers for Government and Government aided educational institutions.
  • Construction of Community Centres.
  • Other works for providing drinking water.
  • Other public works not covered elsewhere.
  • Boundary walls for buildings permissible in the scheme.

Source- Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI

MP in the news

In 2018, Shetty had introduced the Special Marriage (Amendment Bill) 2018 ( Amendment of Section 4). This bill aimed at raising the age of marriage to 21 for women, whose parents haven’t consented and aren’t in agreement with the union. In marriages with parents’ consent, the age would remain at 18.

Shetty explained his rationale for introducing the bill to Mumbai Mirror and stated that at the age of 18 the partners don’t understand the difference between love and infatuation and several such early marriages end up in divorce. He added that the aim of the bill was to  prevent such a social menace. This was slammed by activists and opposition parties, stating that it exposes the ruling party’s regressive mindset. This bill was introduced around the time when the Supreme Court upheld Hadiya’s marriage to Shafin Jahan allowing her to stay with her husband.

Shetty in a recent interview with the Indian Express stated that the Balakot air strike has boosted the morale of the people who will vote for the BJP in large numbers

Activists have alleged that nine open spaces in the Borivali-Kandivali belt are directly or indirectly under the control of Gopal Shetty. The plots were developed when Shetty was MLA, as part of the MLA fund. Activists claim that these open spaces haven’t been reclaimed by the authorities and they have been encroached upon by trusts and organizations connected to Shetty.

Residents of Charkop area have stated that Shetty is trying to take over an open space under the guise of beautification. They claim that Shetty wants to build a gymkhana in an open space that is a protected site as per Bombay High Court Order in 2006.

He was at the centre of controversy yet again, when in 2018, he stated that Christians weren’t part of India’s freedom struggle. The BJP released a statement stating that they didn’t support such statement, and Shetty later apologized for his remarks.

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