Opposition Questions Bank's Withdrawal Of Auction Notice For Sunny Deol's Bungalow

The Opposition, including the Congress, on Monday questioned the Bank of Baroda's (BoB) decision to withdraw the e-auction notice for the Juhu bungalow of actor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sunny Deol.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took to X (formerly Twitter) and stated, "Yesterday afternoon, the nation learned that Bank of Baroda had listed BJP MP Sunny Deol's Juhu residence for e-auction due to his outstanding Rs 56 crore debt to the Bank. This morning, within less than 24 hours, the nation was informed that the Bank of Baroda has retracted the auction notice citing 'technical reasons'. I wonder who triggered these 'technical reasons'?"

The state-owned Bank of Baroda had announced an e-auction for a property owned by the actor, aiming to recover Rs 56 crore, with the auction scheduled for August 25.

The Gurdaspur MP, also known as Ajay Singh Dharmendra Deol, has found success with his latest movie "Gadar 2," which has already grossed over Rs 370 crore since its release last week. However, the bank revealed in a public tender on Sunday that he has defaulted on a Rs 55.99 crore loan, along with interest and penalties, since December 2022.

Despite this, reports on Monday suggest that the auction notice for the bungalow has been withdrawn.

Y Sathish Reddy, the BRS leader and Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation (TSREDCO) chairman, also commented on the bank's actions. He tweeted, "In less than 24 hours: - Bank of Baroda issued an auction notice against BJP MP #SunnyDeol's bungalow, alleging non-payment of dues worth Rs 55 Cr - Astonishingly, the bank promptly retracted the notice, conveniently attributing it to 'Technical Reasons'."

Sunny Deol, officially known as Ajay Singh Dharmendra Deol, has been representing the ruling BJP in the Punjab seat since 2019. He won the seat by a significant margin, defeating the then Congress member Sunil Jhakar.