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BJP candidate accused of amassing wealth

Staff Correspondent

BHOPAL: The Congress Party has sent a notice to Madhya Pradesh Minister Rampal Singh, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate for the upcoming Vidisha parliamentary by-election, asking him to explain how the total worth of his property had shot up from Rs. 87 lakh to Rs. 2.55 crore (as declared by him on oath before the Election Commission) in a short span between 2003 and 2006.

State Congress spokesman Brijmohan Shrivastava gave details about the notice at a press conference he addressed jointly with advocate and legal adviser to MPCC, Vineet Godha, at the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters here on Friday.

Mr. Shrivastava told media persons that Mr. Singh had declared ownership of property worth Rs. 87,25,032 while contesting the 2003 Assembly election.

Now when he was contesting the Vidisha parliamentary by-election, the total worth of his declared property had gone up to Rs. 2,55,53,101, he said, adding that Mr. Singh had neither disclosed the actual worth of a piece of agricultural land and a plot at Udaipura, both in his wife's name, nor the value of a three-acre residential plot at Udaipura and 25 per cent shares of a sugar mill at Jabalpur, both in his son's name. These properties and assets, according to Mr. Shrivastava, have been valued at Rs. 3,25,00,000 taking the total worth of Mr. Singh's assets from Rs. 87 lakh to Rs. 5.8 crore within a three-year period.

The Congress allegation against Mr. Singh is that he has furnished wrong and incomplete information about his assets to the Election Commission. Through the notice, Mr. Singh has been asked to explain how he could earn such a huge property within a brief period.

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BJP candidate accused of amassing wealth

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