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Lok Sabha elections 2019: At Rs140.83 crores, BSP’s Vikram Singh Sodhi richest candidate in Punjab
Though the BSP has done abysmally in recent polls, Sodhi feels he has a good chance of winning his seat. “Being a sportsperson, I am running my campaign with total discipline and planning,” he said.
You could call it the battle of the rich with 80% of the candidates of main parties and alliances vying for the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in Punjab declaring assets worth crores of rupees.
Leading the pack of super-rich candidates is Vikram Singh Sodhi, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) nominee from Anandpur Sahib, with assets worth ₹140.83 crore. The 62-year-old businessman, who did graduation in commerce from Panjab University and runs his business in Europe, owns vast stretches of agriculture land in Anandpur Sahib and a farmhouse with polo ground and stables in Gautam Budh Nagar (Uttar Pradesh) and commercial and residential properties in Delhi and Goa.
The immovable assets, including inherited properties, are worth about ₹138 crore, according to details submitted by Sodhi in his election affidavit. An international polo player, he travels to US every year to play there. Though the BSP has done abysmally in recent polls, Sodhi feels he has a good chance of winning his seat. “Being a sportsperson, I am running my campaign with total discipline and planning,” he said.
Another businessman-turned-politician, Kewal Singh Dhillon, who is the Congress nominee from Sangrur, is not far behind with assets worth ₹131 crore. A former Congress MLA, Sodhi and his wife Manjit Kaur, who is also entrepreneur, have immovable assets worth approximately ₹80 crore which include agriculture land in Sangrur and residential properties in Delhi, Gurgaon, Chandigarh and Spain. Both have invested substantial sums of money from their movable assets totalling ₹50.60 crore in term deposits and bonds.
Sodhi and his wife have 6,275 grams of gold jewellery and diamonds valued at ₹2.72 crore and bulk of these are owned by his wife.
Similarly, Akali leader and sitting MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who is again contesting from Bathinda, has, in her election affidavit, declared gold, silver, stone and diamond jewellery worth over ₹7 crore. Harsimrat, whose husband and Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal is also in the fray from Ferozepur seat, together have assets worth ₹115.95 crore. Sukhbir has movable and immovable assets totalling ₹75.88 crore whereas Harsimrat has assets worth ₹40.07 crore. In the 2017 assembly polls, Sukhbir had declared assets, including spouse’s, worth ₹102.07 crore. The Badal couple has agriculture, non-agriculture and residential properties in Muktsar, Sirsa and Chandigarh, Ludhiana. While Sukhbir owns two tractors, Harsimrat has no vehicle in her name. In addition, he has shown Hindu Undivided Family’s (HUF) assets worth ₹102 crore. According to the affidavit, Sukhbir’s liabilities are worth ₹43.67 crore while his HUF liabilities are worth ₹51.81 crore.
Actor Sunny Deol, who is making his political debut from Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency as the BJP candidate, comes next with assets worth ₹87.19 crore. The 59-year-old action hero, whose real name is Ajay Singh Dharmendra Deol, and his wife, Lynda Deol, have movable assets worth ₹66.18 crore, including ₹42 lakh in cash and investments of ₹1.43 crore in bonds and debentures. He also owns agriculture and residential property worth ₹21 crore. Deol has liabilities totalling ₹49.30 crore. Congress candidate from Patiala, Preneet Kaur, wife of chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, has declared assets worth ₹63.5 crore. All 13 candidates of Congress and the SAD-BJP alliances are crorepati, whereas eight of the 13 AAP candidates have declared assets worth more than a crore.
