Robert Vadra, businessman and son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, on Sunday termed “utterly false, entirely baseless and defamatory” the allegations levelled against him by anti-corruption activists Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan.
Two days after they alleged that he had links with realty major DLF, Mr. Vadra said in a statement that his business transactions were “fully reflected in the financial statements filed before appropriate government authorities in compliance with the law. They are available in the public domain to anyone interested in knowing the truth.” He said he was a “law abiding citizen” and engaged in business for the past 21 years.
Rebutting the allegations, Mr. Vadra said he was “saddened by the attempt of Mr. Kejriwal and Mr. Bhushan to deliberately misrepresent the numbers contained in my financial statements, manufacture lies and malign my family in order to gain cheap publicity for them and for the launch of their political party.”
Reacting to Mr. Vadra’s remarks, Mr. Kejriwal said the questions he had raised remained unanswered.
Referring to the clarification issued by DLF, Mr. Kejriwal said: “It is full of half-truths and lies. A lot of information has been suppressed. But does Mr. Vadra stand by DLF’s response or does he have another version? I would appreciate his version.”
Rejecting the charge that it had given unsecured loans to Mr. Vadra in a quid pro quo, DLF said it gave him Rs. 65 crore in “business advances,” of which Rs. 15 crore was refunded and Rs. 50 crore used for land purchase. The company maintained that it neither received any undue benefit from any State, nor was it allotted any land by the Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan governments.
