Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday escalated his attack on Robert Vadra, releasing a new set to documents to allege a “malafide nexus” between Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law and the DLF.
NEW DELHI – Anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday escalated his attack on Robert Vadra, releasing a new set to documents to allege a “malafide nexus” between Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law and DLF which was facilitated by concessions made by the Congress government in Haryana to the realty major.
Kejriwal cited verdicts from the high court and produced farmers whose land was acquired by the Haryana government for DLF’s benefit as he demanded an FIR against Vadra under the Prevention of Corruption Act and an independent probe under a retired SC judge.
The activist tore into Vadra and DLF’s claims that all their dealings were above board, while dropping a loud hint that he was preparing a list of similar nexus involving three other companies — India Bulls, BPTP and GMR Group.
Kejriwal demanded an explanation on five points — land released in favour of DLF companies by Haryana government belonging to panchayat, government and HSIIDC, increased FAR and change in land use permissions granted to DLF companies.
Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal rebutted DLF’s denials to his previous set of charges and came up with fresh allegations to buttress his charge that the rise in Vadra’s fortune from a mere Rs 50 lakh to Rs 300 crore was actually the result of a quid pro quo between Vadra and the company, with Haryana government organizing benefits for the latter as part of the bargain. Kejriwal accused the Haryana government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda of acting like a “DLF agent”.
Haryana government and DLF dismissed the charges, while Congress angrily responded to the fresh tranche of allegations against Vadra by accusing Kejriwal of resorting to gimmicks for the sake of publicity.
Mocking Union ministers P Chidambaram, Salman Khurshid and Veerappa Moily for their defence of Vadra, Kejriwal pointed out that in 2007, Haryana government handed over 30 acres of land it had acquired for a hospital to DLF for its SEZ venture. He noted that Vadra’s company, North India IT Parks, acquired 50% stake in DLF SEZ Holdings. The acquisition was stayed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court which made scathing observations against the government for acquiring land for “colourable purpose” and for “showering favours” on DLF on the “pretext of public purpose”.
