Punjab's Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who heads the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal, and Haryana’s main opposition party, the Indian National Lok Dal, have demanded a probe into the allegations of illegalities and irregularities in various land deals that point towards the involvement of Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Mr. Badal, who was in Mansa district to lay the foundation stones of projects worth Rs. 600 crore, sought a probe in the Congress-ruled States of Haryana and Rajasthan, where there have been almost daily new revelations over Mr. Vadra’s involvement in “murky” land deals.
Supporting its NDA allies’ call for a white paper on the disproportionate appreciation in the Vadra family’s wealth, Mr. Badal said it was imperative for Ms. Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to come clean on the issue.
“As son-in-law of the first family of India Mr. Vadra exploited his position, which explains the growth in his family’s wealth from a few lakhs to thousands of crores without any investment,” Mr. Badal said, adding that it was intriguing that whatever land Mr. Vadra purchased in any Congress-ruled State turned to gold within a few months.
Meanwhile, led by the president of their Haryana unit Ashok Arora, a delegation of MLAs from the INLD submitted a memorandum to Governor Jagannath Pahadia seeking a probe into the series of alleged scams to the tune of Rs. 3.5 lakh crore that the State government is mired in.
The delegation emphasised that senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka had submitted a detailed report to the Chief Secretary three months back regarding all the controversial land deals.
The INLD memorandum pointed out that Mr. Vadra’s company, Sky Light Hospitality, which had a capital of around Rs. one lakh, bought land worth Rs. 7.5 crore. Even the cheque issued to make the payment did not come from Mr. Vadra’s company, and yet in a few days the same land was sold to DLF for Rs. 58 crore.
