Two days after holding out a threat that he could reveal many names involved in illegal transactions, Congress MP from Gurgaon Rao Inderjit Singh demanded the setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe all cases of change in land use (CLU) and real estate deals in Haryana, including the controversial Vadra-DLF deal.
The matter could also be probed by a court or the government, he told a “Meet the Press” organised by the Chandigarh Press Club here on Friday.
Responding to questions, Mr. Singh said the land deals, permission for CLU and licences raised doubts about the integrity of the present State government. If the matter was not investigated immediately, the next government, in which Bhupinder Singh Hooda might not be Chief Minister, would definitely have it probed.
As he sought to deny attempts at targeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra or embarrass the party on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections, Mr. Singh said he had been raising the issue of irregularities in granting CLU permission and in land acquisition for more than four years and the Vadra-DLF controversy surfaced less than year ago, when The Hindu did a series of exposés. “Why probe just 3.7 acres where Mr. Vadra’s name figures? Why not all land deals [made] during the tenure of this government, if possible?” he asked, refusing to comment on the report by senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka, as the document was not in the public domain yet. Mr. Khemka put on record alleged irregularities involving Mr. Vadra’s land deals.
“I do not have a brief for or against Mr. Vadra. But I do have a brief for the citizens of my constituency, who feel injustice was done to them when the present government in the State went ahead with its development policy.”
While granting CLU for 21,000 acres, by which nearly 80 per cent of agricultural land came under realtors’ business, the government failed to provide basic amenities to residents who suffered without proper water or electricity supply, sewerage and health facilities, Mr. Singh said.
Mr. Singh said that since the present government assumed office, at least three master plans had been laid out. While files moved from the draft stage to actual plan, real estate players purchased large stretches of land, pocketing a chunk of the profits. Responding to a query, he said though he had raised the issue on the party fora, “the Haryana Congress has become a private limited company, where there is no democracy. Nobody listens to reason.”
To a question on his political career, Mr. Singh said though he had not taken any decision to leave the Congress, it was for the party to take the final call. “Whether I form a new party or join some other, only the future can tell. But my Insaaf Manch is here to stay, and those joining me there are motivated by [the call of] their conscience that nobody is a super citizen and all 36 castes should live in harmony where nobody is denied their rights.”
He reiterated that he was not sulking on being excluded during the recent Cabinet reshuffle at the Centre.
