SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, wife Harsimrat Kaur declare assets worth Rs 115.95 crore

With a combined declared net worth of Rs 217 crore, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal and his Union Minister wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal are so far the richest candidates to enter the fray for Lok Sabha elections in Punjab.

CHANDIGARH:  SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and his Union minister wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal together have assets worth Rs 115.95 crore, according to their election affidavits. The power couple from Punjab have movable assets (bank balance, investments etc.) worth over a whopping Rs 100 crore. Sukhbir Singh Badal has moveable and immovable property worth Rs 75.88 crore. His wife and Union minister Harsimrat Kaur has assets worth Rs 40.07 crore. While Sukhbir Badal filed his nomination from the Firozpur Lok Sabha constituency on Friday, Harsimrat Kaur filed her papers from the Bathinda seat. She had won from Bathinda in 2009 and 2014. Despite such riches, the Badals do not own a single car. Sukhbir Badal owns two tractors costing Rs 2.38 lakh. Sukhbir Singh, who is an MLA from Jalalabad, owns horses worth Rs 95.82 lakh while his wife possesses paintings worth Rs 3.40 lakh. He has two weapons worth Rs 4 lakh and his wife has a weapon worth Rs 1.25 lakh, according to their affidavits. He has moveable assets worth Rs 23.12 crore while his wife's moveable assets are valued at Rs 24.17 crore. Harsimrat Kaur owns jewellery worth Rs 7.03 crore and Sukhbir Singh has gold jewellery worth Rs 9 lakh, their affidavits stated. Sukhbir Singh's immovable assets are valued at Rs 52.76 crore and his wife has immovable assets worth Rs 15.90 crore. He has agricultural land, non-agricultural land, shops, residential property in Muktsar, Sirsa (Haryana), Ganganagar (Rajasthan), Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jalandhar. He has a 2,225 square yard house in Chandigarh's Sector 9 which has a market value of Rs 22.81 crore. Sukhbir Singh and Harsimrat Kaur have cash worth Rs 33,936 and Rs 16,424, respectively. The former Punjab deputy chief minister possesses two tractors worth Rs 2.38 lakh but Harsimrat Kaur has no vehicle in her name. Both have investments in shares, bonds and debentures. According to his affidavit, Sukhbir Singh's liabilities are worth Rs 43.67 crore while his Hindu Undivided Family's (HUF) liabilities are worth Rs 51.81 crore. He has an outstanding income tax demand of Rs 6.69 lakh (year 2002-03) and an appeal in this case is pending before Income Tax appellate Tribunal. He has wealth tax penalty of Rs 2.13 lakh and an appeal against it is pending before the commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), Bathinda. He is facing trial in four criminal cases in different courts of Punjab, according to the affidavit. Sukhbir Badal's father, Parkash Singh Badal (91), has been the Chief Minister of Punjab five times. Polling in Punjab's 13 Lok Sabha seats will be held in the seventh phase on May 19. (With inputs from agencies)