Midnight notice: Bittu clears ₹2-crore dues to file papers
LUDHIANA/JALANDHAR: Ravneet Singh Bittu, Member of Parliament and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Ludhiana, mortgaged his ancestral property to pay house arrears to the tune of Rs 1.82 crores at midnight, hours before filing the nomination.
Bittu said he had to borrow some money from his relatives, friends and arranged the rest by mortgaging a part of his ancestral property in Kotla Afgana village of Payal.
After paying the dues and availing a no objection certificate (NOC) from the Municipal Corporation, Bittu on Friday night vacated the house and shifted to the BJP office near the railway crossing, backside Arora Palace at Gill road. After filing his nomination papers, he attacked the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, accusing it of trying to malign his political innings and damaging him personally by issuing a notice regarding house arrears at 12.18 am while he was supposed to file his papers next morning.
Questioning the government’s move regarding midnight issuance of notice, he said, “The house was allotted to me in 2016 by the then Shiromani Akali Dal government due to security reasons and I fought two elections from this house, but no notice was given to me ever. The Ludhiana administration and the corporation have been taking the electricity and the water bills also.” “How can a person have this amount ready to clear the arrears, that too at midnight? I had to pledge my ancestral agricultural land to clear the outstanding amount to get the NOC,” he added.
Is this some design of anti-nationalist forces? he asked while reminding the government that he was a Z-plus protectee. “Was there a larger design to stop me from filing nominations and fighting elections?” Bittu questioned.
AAP creating hurdles for BJP candidates: Rupani
Punjab BJP in-charge and former Gujarat chief minister (CM) Vijay Rupani accused the ruling AAP in the state of trying to thwart BJP candidates from filing their nomination papers.
Addressing a press conference in Jalandhar, Rupani cited the case of Bittu who got a notice for recovery of pending house dues on WhatsApp at midnight a day before he was to file his nomination. “The authorities were aware that Bittu was to file his nomination on Friday. On Thursday night, he was sent a notice for recovery of Rs 1.82 crore by the local bodies department. Getting an NOC was not possible without payment of this huge amount.”
He said the BJP had brought the issue to the notice of the Punjab chief electoral officer.
Rupani also cited the case of party’s Bathinda nominee Parampal Kaur Sidhu whose application for voluntary retirement was rejected despite following all procedures.