File Photo: Robert Vadra (Agence France-Presse)
Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, today said he hoped that Haryana's investigation into his land deals "will not be used for political vendetta."
In his first response to the Haryana government's announcement two days ago, Mr Vadra told NDTV: "Neither me nor anyone associated with me has anything to hide. Compliance of all laws were followed in a completely transparent manner."
On Wednesday, the Haryana government said it would investigate controversial land deals during the previous Congress rule, including one that allegedly delivered windfall gains for the 46-year-old businessman married to Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka.
"We have come across documents, there are several proofs of wrong-doings during the 10-year Congress rule,' said Ram Bilas Sharma, a state minister. The BJP had promised to investigate such deals while campaigning for the national election last year.
Retired high court judge SN Dhingra has been asked to submit a report within six months.
Mr Vadra has been targeted over the sale of land in Gurgaon near Delhi by his company, Skylight Hospitality, to real estate giant DLF in 2012. The BJP alleges that the Congress, in two back-to-back terms in Haryana before losing power last year, allowed Mr Vadra to circumvent rules and sell the land at a huge profit though nothing went to the government.
In a statement, DLF said it would fully cooperate with the Haryana inquiry.
"All facts pertaining to the case involving DLF are already in public domain and it is well known that we had entered into a single relatively small transaction of approximately Rs 58 crore to buy a parcel of licensed commercial land in this sector," the company said today.
The Vadra-DLF land deal was first red-flagged by senior bureaucrat Ashok Khemka, who alleges that he was victimized by the Congress government.
Later, the national auditor said in a report that the Congress, when in power, favoured five companies, including Mr Vadra's Skylight Hospitalities.
The Congress says Haryana's inquiry is the BJP's answer to Rahul Gandhi's offensive against the Modi government on the land bill and other issues.