Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday hit out at Congress leader and party’s New Delhi nominee Ajay Maken for his alleged nexus with the private builder to whom Kathputli Colony land was given for redevelopment. Alleging financial irregularities by the ruling Congress in giving land to the realtor, New Delhi seat candidate of AAP Ashish Khetan also challenged senior Congress leader Ajay Maken for an open debate on the issue.
“DDA’s Kathputli Colony land which was worth over Rs 1,000 crore was given to a private company for some Rs 6 crore only. This exposes the nexus between the ruling Congress party leader and private builders. It’s a scam like the coal and 2G scams,” Khetan alleged during a press conference held at party’s headquarters at Hanuman Road.
Khetan further alleged that despite DDA’s audit cell flagging “undue favour to the developer” in its report, the land was given to the private firm. Khetan, who is AAP’s New Delhi candidate, trained his guns at rival Congress candidate Maken, under whose tenure as the Union Urban Development Minister, he alleged the land deal, was worked out. “The DDA-builder deal was worked out when Maken was the Urban Development Minister. The bidding and all formalities were done during his tenure only in 2009. Only, the mere signing of the paperwork was done during the next regime. And, so as I camp in Kathputli Colony tonight, I challenge Ajay Maken for a debate in front of people there. And, if he thinks he can make matters clear for us on this land issue, he’s is most welcome to do so,” Khetan said.
While briefing about alleged irregularities further, on Wednesday, Khetan also said the DDA documents were accessed by the party through an artist society from the colony, which had filed a writ petition challenging their removal from the area. “The documents were accessed by the society through Right to Information (RTI) as part of its petition, and then AAP got it through the artists, after the nominations,” he said.
When The Pioneer contacted Maken for his response to the allegations, the Congress leader said that figures are being pointed at him without any evidence. He further said he would take up the matter with the Election Commission of India (ECI). “I would also approach the court since this is a defamatory act, which is unacceptable. And the fact of the matter is that I was not even the Urban Development Minister when the land was allotted to the said developer in September 2009,” said Maken. He further added that the facts and document given by the AAP candidate are misleading facts and completely malicious.