Himachal's richest 2 candidates in fray for Kangra seat

Pawan Kajal, Congress nominee who filed nomination papers on Monday, is the second richest 2019 Lok Sabha election candidate after Kishan Kapoor of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Himachal Pradesh.

While Kajal has declared assets worth Rs 7.70 crore; Kapoor, a Minister in the state, owns assets worth Rs 8.04 crore. Both are pitted against each other in the Kangra Lok Sabha seat.

In an affidavit submitted with his nomination papers, Kajal, 45, declared current value of his and his wife's assets at Rs 7,75,03,084. Kajal, a matriculate, has Rs 66.42 lakh liability and has marked his profession as agriculturalist.

As per the income tax details, Kajal, a sitting legislator from Kangra, filed a return of Rs 22.50 lakh, while his wife's income tax return was Rs 3.34 lakh in 2017-18.

He belongs to the OBC (Other Backward Caste), which accounts for around 30 per cent vote share in the Kangra constituency, while his rival Kapoor, 67, comes from the Gaddi community and has a mass base in the constituency.

Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Minister Kapoor represents the Dharamshala constituency in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly.

Kangra will go to the polls in the last of the seven-phased Lok Sabha elections on May 19.

--IANS

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