New Delhi:
Businessman Robert Vadra – Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s husband and brother-in-law of Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi – marched to the Enforcement Directorate’s Delhi office Tuesday morning after receiving a second summons. The first was on April 8.
His statement will likely be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Mr Vadra, who slammed the probe agency’s summons as “political vendetta by the BJP” and a “witch hunt”, is to be questioned over money laundering charges linked to a Haryana land deal.
“Whenever I raise the people’s voice, they try to suppress me. I have nothing to hide. They can ask me whatever they want and I’ll answer them,” he told reporters en route to the ED office.
“They misuse the power of probe agencies. I do not have any fear. I have nothing to hide,” the 56-year-old businessman said, marching to the beat of Congress supporters chanting ‘jab Modi darta hai, ED ko aage karta hai’, or ‘whenever Modi is scared, he calls on the ED’.
The swipe was a reference to repeated claims by the Congress and other opposition parties – that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government uses central investigative agencies like the ED to harass and target rival politicians, particularly before elections.
The case involving Mr Vadra is about the purchase of land in Haryana – by his company, Skylight Hospitality – in 2008 for Rs 7.5 crore. Shortly thereafter he got a permit to develop a housing society and the land value spiked. He then sold it to real estate developers DLF for Rs 58 crore.
The Congress was in power in the state at the time and Bhupinder Hooda was Chief Minister. As a result, the BJP has repeatedly accused its rival of stealing land from farmers to give to Mr Vadra. Mr Hooda has, just as often, dismissed the allegation; in October last year, hours before voting for the Assembly election, Mr Hooda once again batted away charges made by the BJP.
“I challenge that the Congress did not give even an inch of government land to Robert Vadra. If the BJP shows proof of giving land to Vadra, I will leave politics,” he said.
Meanwhile, Robert Vadra has also spoken of the possibility of a dramatic entry into politics.
Before the Lok Sabha election last year, Mr Vadra was spoken of as a surprise pick to contest the party stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. The Amethi seat had been held by Rahul Gandhi earlier before his shock defeat to the BJP’s Smriti Irani in the 2019 election.
“My association with politics is only because I am a member of the Gandhi family. But I will also say that in the last many years, many parties have used my name and always pulled me into politics by default because every time there’s an election, they remember my name. Every time they have an issue that they want to digress from, they remember my name,” he said.
