Election 2019: From Rahul To Mulayam To Shatrughan: Family’s First For Taking Loans
Poonam Sinha, a Samajwadi Party candidate from Lucknow has an outstanding loan of over Rs 16 crore due to her daughter Sonakshi.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has taken it from his mother, Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav from his son and outspoken actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha from his daughter—family loans seems quite common among politicians, too.
In his Lok Sabha election affidavit, Rahul Gandhi has disclosed a "personal loan" of Rs 5 lakh from mother Sonia Gandhi, but has got no other loans in his name.
Sonia Gandhi, who is also fighting the election, hasn't disclosed any loan in her name.
On the other hand, Mulayam Singh Yadav, fighting polls from family bastion Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh, has disclosed a loan of over Rs 2.13 crore from his son and former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
At the same time, the Samajwadi Party patriarch has also disclosed the loans he has given to other family members—Rs 6.75 lakh to his second wife Sadhana Yadav, Rs 43.7 lakh to son Prateek and Rs 9.8 lakh to another family member Mridula Yadav.
Shatrughan Sinha, who was formerly with the BJP and has now joined Congress in his electoral bid from Patna Sahib constituency in Bihar, has disclosed a loan of about Rs 10.6 crore from his daughter and actor Sonakshi Sinha. He has also himself extended loans/advances to his son Luv Sinha (Rs 10 lakh) and wife Poonam (about Rs 80 lakh), among others.
Poonam Sinha, who herself is in the electoral fray as the Samajwadi Party candidate from Lucknow, also has an outstanding loan of over Rs 16 crore due to her daughter Sonakshi.
She is pitted against senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh, who has not availed any loan.
Shatrughan Sinha's rival candidate from the BJP, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, also has no outstanding loans.
Former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav's daughter Misha Bharti, who is the RJD candidate from Pataliputra, has got no loans outstanding against her but her husband Shailesh Kumar has a personal loan of Rs 9.85 lakh from ICICI Bank.
She has also disclosed loans/advances totalling Rs 28 lakh by her and Rs 2.9 crore by her husband, but no debtor has been identified.
Her BJP rival Ramkirpal Yadav has disclosed an education loan of Rs 17.17 lakh he has taken for his daughter.
Another high-profile BJP candidate from Bihar, Union Minister Giriraj Singh, has disclosed a car loan of Rs 5.86 lakh for himself and a housing loan of Rs 26.5 lakh by his wife. In his election affidavit, he has listed 'other liabilities' of Rs 75 lakh in his name and of Rs 15 lakh for his wife.
Singh is pitted in the much-talked-about electoral battle against former Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who has not disclosed any bank or personal loans and has described himself as "jobless" with "independent writing" as his profession.
BJP candidate from Chandigarh Kirron Kher has taken an unsecured loan of Rs 25 lakh from her son Sikander Berry. She has also disclosed a car loan of over Rs 35 lakh and some unsecured business loans taken by her husband and popular actor Anupam Kher.
Congress candidate from South Mumbai Milind Deora has disclosed a 'non-interest bearing family advance' of over Rs 4.96 crore taken by his wife Pooja.