Midnight drama, Ludhiana MP Ravneet Bittu served Rs 1.83-cr notice to clear house dues

Nitin Jain

Ludhiana, May 10

In an alleged bid to prevent him from entering the poll fray, sitting Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu was served a notice to clear Rs 1.83-crore dues and vacate the government house, in which he has been staying since 2016, last night, hours before he was scheduled to file nomination papers here on Friday.

The firebrand parliamentarian, who had quit the Congress to get ticket from the BJP from Ludhiana, has to pledge his ancestral agricultural land to clear the dues and obtain the no-due certificate (NDC), which was mandatory before filing the nomination.

The grandson of slain Chief Minister Beant Singh, Bittu has got the Z-plus security for the past several years.

In a notice issued to Bittu, a copy of which is with The Tribune, the MC Town and Country Planner wrote that following his request on May 7 to procure NDC, the MC Commissioner on May 8 got assessed the market rent of his house. “Accordingly, the house rent from January 1, 2016, to May 10, 2024, was assessed at Rs 91,49,147,” the notice read, while stating that the DC has intimated the MC that the government house was not allotted by the DC office following which, as per the notification issued by the Punjab Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms, the house rent has to be recovered in double, which amounts to Rs 1,82,98,294.

The MC notice asked the MP to clear the dues and vacate the house. It was mentioned in the notice that the action has been taken following the approval of the MC Commissioner. The MC issued him the NDC after he cleared the arrears following which he filed papers.

Terming it political vendetta, Bittu said the action smacked of nefarious designs of his opponents to prevent him from entering the election fray. “AAP and the Congress are trying to finish my political innings by issuing Rs 2-crore demand notice and asking me to vacate the house at midnight, hours before I was to file the papers,” he said.