A day after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alleged that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had allotted land to Union Minister Vijay Goel in violation of rules, the latter demanded that the party produce evidence to substantiate the claims.
A clipping of a media report shared by AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on social media on Thursday had said that the DDA had bent the rules of land allotment for sanctioning land for Mr. Goel’s NGO, Vaish Aggarwal Education Society.
‘Plan changed in 2003’
A statement released by Mr. Goel, however, said no norms had been flouted by the DDA to allot the said plot.
“Fourteen years ago, DDA had changed the layout plan and designated the plot for the construction of temple. This was before Mr. Goel was elected as a Rajya Sabha member or became a Minister. Hence, there’s no connection between the two,” the statement read.
The statement also said that Mr. Goel had resigned from the post of the vice-president of the NGO in 2013, and was no longer an active member of it.
Kejriwal slammed
Mr. Goel stated that there could be nothing as delightful and noble as helping underprivileged children and making them smile. “But it is sad that Mr. Kejriwal promoted a fabricated news report to gain political brownie points and cheap publicity,” Mr. Goel alleged.