Amarinder is the candidate from Patiala (urban) seat. He will contest against Congress candidate and former Mayor Vishnu Sharma…reports Asian Lite News
Two-time Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, who belongs to the erstwhile royal family owns no personal vehicle, but owed a loan of Rs 2 crore for a ‘royal’ farmhouse in the lower Shivalik hills near Chandigarh.
The assets worth Rs 3.55 crore were declared on Monday by Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) chief Capt Amarinder Singh.
However, the value of assets declared by the 80-year-old former Congress leader dropped massively as compared to that declared during 2017 assembly polls when he was with the Congress.
Amarinder is the candidate from Patiala (urban) seat. He will contest against Congress candidate and former Mayor Vishnu Sharma.
He had declared total assets worth Rs 86.33 crore including that of his wife former union minister Preneet Kaur when he had successfully contested from Amritsar Lok Sabha seat during 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
In his affidavit filed before the Returning Officer in Patiala, Amarinder Singh declared his gross movable assets and his wife’s worth Rs 3.55 crore and Rs 4.17 crore, respectively.
The scion of erstwhile royal state of Patiala, who owns the palatial new Moti Bagh palace in Patiala, has no criminal case. However, he is facing a complaint the income tax “evasion”.
‘Rahul’s claims of deciding CM’s face farce’
Even as he dubbed as farce Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s claims of deciding the chief minister face with inputs from the ground, Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) chief Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday predicted an abysmal defeat for Navjot Singh Sidhu from Amritsar East, which he had won in the past only with the support of the BJP.
Addressing the media after filing his nomination papers from Patiala Urban and inaugurating his party office there, the former chief minister termed as ridiculous Sidhu’s charge of his hand in pitting Bikram Singh Majithia against him by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
“I’m not Majithia’s uncle,” quipped Capt Amarinder, adding with 38 per cent of the voters in Amritsar East being Hindus and 32 per cent Scheduled Castes, Sidhu’s defeat was certain. The BJP, as part of alliance with the PLC and SAD Sanyukt, has fielded a strong candidate from the constituency, he added.
On Rahul Gandhi’s statement that the Congress would announce its chief ministerial candidate in the state after taking inputs from the ground, Capt Amarinder said this was just theatrics. He pointed out that as per procedure, the people elect their MLAs and then the CLP elects the chief minister, “and so all this talk of is just drama”.
Asked to comment on the decision of the farmers to contest the polls, the former chief minister said it was their right to do so. He personally had always supported them, said Capt Amarinder, pointing out that his government had announced jobs and Rs 5 lakh to the kin of each of the farmers who died during the agitation against the farm laws.
Exuding confidence of the PLC-BJP-SAD Sanyukt alliance forming the next government in Punjab, Capt Amarinder said, in response to a question, the decision to allow some of the PLC candidates to contest on the BJP symbol was taken keeping in mind the voter demographics.
While four PLC candidates will contest on the BJP symbol in urban segments, two of their candidates will fight on the PLC symbol in the rural constituencies, he explained.