Elections are not cheap, which is why American political hopefuls have to attend endless rounds of fundraising dinners and events, thanks to stringent rules on individual donations, so they can raise the millions of dollars needed for a shot at high public office. Except when you are a billionaire, like Michael Bloomberg, who self-funded his New York City mayoral run, or Donal Trump, who claims to have funded at least part of his Presidential run himself.
In other words, it helps to be rich when you are running for elections.
This year, in the Punjab Assembly elections, there are a handful of candidates who could probably their own campaigns a few score times over, and then some.
Ironically, among the richest is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s candidate Aman Arora, who is joined in the elite club by Congress candidate from Kapurthala, Rana Gurjeet Singh, and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.
At Rs 169.88 crore, as declared in affidavits to the Election Commission, businessman-turned-politician Rana Gurjeet Singh leads the pack of 1,941 candidates who are in the fray for 117 Assembly seats. A former Member of Parliament from Jalandhar, this time he is contesting Assembly elections from Kapurthala on the Congress ticket. He owns sugar mills in Amritsar and Uttar Pradesh, and is the owner of the Rana Group of Companies.
Singh beat out the Congress candidate from Muktsar, Karan Kaur Brar, daughter-in-law of former Chief Minister Harcharan Singh Brar, who was the richest candidate in the 2012 Assembly elections. This year, Kaur is the second richest candidate with assets worth Rs 119.4 crore.
She is followed by Kewal Dhillion, Congress candidate from Barnala with assets of Rs 89.14 crores, and among the richest MLAs in the state. He is the owner of Dhillion Group which deals with real estate, liquor, entertainment and shopping malls.
In the SAD, Sukhbir Singh Badal tops the money charts with assets worth Rs 102.7 crore. While he has assets worth Rs 72.38 crore, his wife, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who is Union Minister for Food Processing, has assets worth Rs 29.67 crores. The Dy CM is locked in a close contest with AAP MP Bhagwant Mann and Congress’ Ravneet Bittu from Jalalabad.
SAD candidate from Kharar, Ranjit Singh Gill is the second richest candidate from ruling party, with a net worth of Rs 62.91 crore. A leading realtor, he is the promoter of Gillco Valley spread over 400 acres in Kharar, from where is contesting. He is followed by businessman Sarabjit Makar who is contesting from Jalandhar Cantt and has assets worth Rs 59 crore.
Akali Dal’s longest serving minister, Adesh Pratap Kairon who is the son-in-law of Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, also figures among the five richest candidates from SAD, with assets worth Rs 53.21 crores. A four-time MLA, he will contest the elections from Patti.
The Aam Aadmi Party, a relatively new entrant to politics that has fielded candidates from across various sections of society, also has a few names among the top 10 richest candidates in Punjab. However, the two richest candidates are those who were earlier with Congress and left to join AAP.
With a net worth of Rs 65.86 crore, Arora, who is contesting on an AAP ticket from Sunam, is the richest in the party, which made a name for itself with its anti-corruption agenda. A trader-turned-politician, Arora had left Congress to join AAP last year.
Former Congress spokesperson Sukhpal Khaira who joined AAP last year is the second richest candidates in the party, with assets worth Rs 59.46 crore. He is contesting from Bholath.
