The Congress and the BJP engaged in a bitter war of words on Tuesday over charges that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra may have bought a benami property in london. While Sonia dismissed charges against Vadra as “false” and demanded a fair probe, the BJP hit back saying her defence of Vadra has exposed the “farce” that he was a ‘private’ person.
“This is a conspiracy for Congress-free country. What is the meaning of Congress-free IndiaIJ Every day they make new excuses and level false charges. If there is something, then there should be an impartial probe. Everything will become clear,” Sonia said at Raebareli when asked about Vadra’s name cropping up in the case.
Sonia also attacked the Government over the celebrations of two years of the NDA Government. “I’ve never seen anything like this, Modi ji is a PM, not a Shahenshah,” she said.
The BJP retorted saying people had sent the (Congress) emperors packing in the 2014 general elections.
The war of words erupted following news reports on the basis of purported papers seized by the Income Tax department during searches last month on the arms dealer’s premises. The raids had led to a trail of emails exchanged between Vadra and his assistant on the one hand and the dealer’s aide on the other regarding the purchase of a london house for approximately Rs19 crore which was subsequently said to have been sold.
Vadra’s legal firm has denied that he owned the london property directly or indirectly. It also denied that Vadra had any business ties with the arms dealer or his aide.
BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said, “The Congress chief’s comments have exposed this farce that Vadra is merely a private citizen. It has established that he is the Gandhi family. When we order probe, then the Congress quickly dismisses it as vendetta. The BJP wonders why she is so rattled. Those who behaved and ruled like ‘Shahenshah’ were sent packing by voters in 2014. Those emperors are now on bail in the National Herald case involving corruption of over Rs5,000 crore.”
Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said, “The daughter-in-law of a big family is not a maharani (queen).”