Chandigarh: Wealth seems to be evenly distributed among all the political majors in Punjab as the wealthiest candidate is from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and there are three each from Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Congress among the 10 richest candidates in the fray for February 20 assembly polls in the state.
The 10 richest candidates also include one from BJP and an independent candidate, besides another AAP candidate, according to the affidavits submitted along with their nomination papers by all the candidates for all the 117 seats in the state to the election authorities.
The AAP candidate Kulwant Singh from Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar (Mohali), who is a matriculate from the Punjab School Education Board and who is a realty baron, was the first mayor of Mohali about five years ago. He is contesting an assembly election for the first time.
The businessman-turned-politician, Kulwant Singh has declared his assets worth Rs 238 crore and, along with his wife, declared movable assets totaling Rs 203.88 crore, mostly investments in his Janta Land Promoters Limited (JLPL) which has multiple residential and commercial projects in the districts of Mohali and Ludhiana.
The next in the list of the 10 richest candidates is SAD president and former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, contesting from Jalalabad, who along with his wife, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, an MP from Bathinda, has declared assets worth Rs 202.64 crore.
Notably, Sukhbir’s brother-in-law Adesh Partap Singh Kairon, a SAD candidate from Patti, has declared assets worth Rs 83.12 crore, while Sukhbir’s cousin and finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal who is a Congress candidate from Bathinda (urban) seat, has declared assets worth Rs 72.70 crore.
The Congress candidate from Muktsar, Karan Kaur Brar, who is the daughter-in-law of former chief minister Harcharan Singh Brar, who was the wealthiest candidate in 2012, has declared assets worth Rs 135.4 crore, this time.
The Cabinet minister Rana Gurjeet Singh, the Congress candidate from Kapurthala, who was the richest contestant in the 2017 assembly elections, and his son Rana Inder Pratap Singh, who is contesting as an independent candidate from Sultanpur Lodhi seat, are also among the 10 richest in the state, with assets worth Rs 125.66 crore and Rs 70 crore, respectively.
The third SAD candidate Ranjit Singh Gill, who is contesting from Kharar, has assets worth Rs 74 crore.
The second candidate of AAP in the list of wealthiest candidates is Aman Kumar Arora, with assets worth Rs 87.74 crore. He is contesting from the Sunam seat.
The BJP candidate from Jalandhar Cantt, Sarabjit Singh Makkar, has assets worth Rs 73.55 crore.
