In Chandigarh, leaders with high-end cars rule the roost

Politicians from Chandigarh and Haryana have a penchant for luxury on hot wheels.

They own high-end, exorbitantly priced SUV’s. Not quite “Aam”, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) celebrity candidate from Chandigarh Gul Panag leads the way with three vehicles–an Audi-5, an Innova and a Scorpio. Her glitzy cine star opponent Kirron Kher owns a Mercedes Benz worth over Rs 60 lakh. A Jaguar-XF is a prized possession with Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) president Kuldeep Bishnoi. He also owns an Audi-7, Range Rover and Tata Safari Storme. 

But Bishnoi knows his appetite and liking for luxury cars may not gel well with his rustic voter base in Haryana’s hinterland. Perhaps, that’s why, Kuldeep mounted a tractor, which incidentally is also his poll symbol, and drove all the way to file his nomination papers from Hisar. 

Congress' youth face and nominee from Bhiwani, Shruti Chaudhary, owns a BMW X-1.Then there are politicians who have declared phenomenal wealth, but either own no vehicle or have ones that by an elite standard cost a tad less than the high end luxury segment. 

Like Congress’ sitting MP from Kurukshetra Naveen Jindal–one of the richest candidates in the country with a declared asset of nearly Rs 300 crore–who owns no vehicle in his name. It is therefore not surprising that neither Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi nor Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal possess a vehicle in their name.  

Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) youth leader Dushyant Chautala, who is the grandson of INLD patriarch and former chief minister Om Parkash Chautala sports a Toyota Fortuner. 

The other heir apparent, Deepinder Hooda, the son of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has declared assets worth Rs 35 crore but owns a 2012 model Tata Safari.