Row over Sunny Deol’s bungalow as Oppn questions withdrawal of bank notice

The Opposition, including the Congress, on Monday raised questions after the Bank of Baroda (BoB) withdrew the e-auction notice for the Juhu bungalow of actor and Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sunny Deol.

Taking to X (formally Twitter) senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, “Yesterday afternoon the nation got to know that Bank of Baroda had put up the Juhu residence of BJP MP Sunny Deol for e-auction since he has not paid up ₹56 crore owed to the Bank. This morning, in less than 24 hours, the nation has got to know that the Bank of Baroda has withdrawn the auction notice due to ‘technical reasons’. Wonder who triggered these ‘technical reasons’?”

The state-owned BoB had put on the block a property owned by the actor to recover ₹56 crore through an e-auction to be held on August 25.

The Gurdaspur MP, whose latest movie “Gadar 2” is a box office success having already grossed over ₹370 crore since the release last week, has been in default on a ₹55.99 crore loan from the bank and interest and penalty, since December 2022, the second largest state-owned lender said in a public tender on Sunday.

However, the auction notice for the bungalow has been withdrawn, some media reports said Monday.

BRS leader and Telangana state renewable energy development corporation (TSREDCO) chairman Y Sathish Reddy also reacted the bank’s move.

“In less than 24 hours: – Bank of Baroda issued an auction notice against BJP MP #SunnyDeol’s bungalow, alleging non-payment of dues worth ₹55 Cr – Astonishingly, the bank promptly retracted the notice, conveniently attributing it to ‘Technical Reasons’,” he tweeted.

The actor is officially known as Ajay Singh Dharmendra Deol and has been representing the ruling BJP from the Punjab seat since 2019 when he won the seat with a big margin defeating the then Congress member Sunil Jhakar.