Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 23
Details of assets owned by Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi, who is contesting the Lok Sabha bypoll from Kerala's Wayanad in her electoral debut, and her businessman husband Robert Vadra came out in the open on Wednesday, with the couple being worth Rs 88 crore.
Priyanka Gandhi filed three sets of nominations before the Wayanad District Collector on Wednesday, and the information about her and her husband's assets came in the affidavit she filed, as per the mandatory requirement for every candidate who files a nomination to contest an election in the country.
The Congress-led UDF candidate, in her nomination affidavit, revealed that her assets worth nearly Rs 12 crore, comprise a 12,000 sq feet farmhouse near Shimla valued at Rs 5.64 crore besides a Honda CRV presently worth Rs 8 lakh. Among the other assets are mutual fund investments to the tune of Rs 2.24 crore besides jewellery worth Rs 1.16 crore. Then she co-owns agricultural land at Mehrauli worth Rs 2.10 crore along with her brother and former Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi. Incidentally, she has declared an income of over Rs 46.39 lakh in the previous fiscal and this includes interest from banks and other investments besides rental income.
Priyanka Gandhi's husband Vadra has movable assets worth over Rs 37.9 crore and immovable assets worth over Rs 27.64 crore. These include vehicles besides partnerships in a few companies.
Incidentally, this is the debut election of Priyanka Gandhi after her brother Rahul vacated the seat which he retained the seat at the April general elections. Days after that, he decided to vacate the Wayanad seat to retain the Gandhi family's traditional Rae Bareli seat from here he was also elected. Soon after he vacated it, the Congress went into a huddle to select his replacement, and to keep up his promise that he would not desert Wayanad, decided to field Priyanka Gandhi as its candidate.
Addressing a gathering before filing her nomination, Priyanka Gandhi, who was accompanied by her mother and former party chief Sonia Gandhi, brother Rahul Gandhi, and top Congress leaders, said: "This is a new journey for me and you are my guides. For me, it's my responsibility too. You are the symbol of trust between my family and you. I have been a mother of two children before entering politics. The one thing I want my children to know is what difficulty I faced, I was there with them whenever they needed me. You are also my family and I want you to know the same, I am there to fight for you and I will fight your battles and will not let you down. I thank you from the core of my heart for accepting me as the UDF candidate."