File photo of businessman and Congress President Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra (Agence France-Presse)
Ahead of next week's election in Haryana, the BJP says a controversial land deal proves that the Congress government headed by BS Hooda is guilty of multiple infractions to benefit Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
The powerful Election Commission announced earlier this week that the real estate deal was kosher at least on one front - it had not violated the model code of conduct that kicked in last month after election dates were announced. The code of conduct forbids the party in power from taking any important decision in its lameduck phase.
"The fact that it (the deal) may not be violating the model code does not exonerate the government of a scam," said Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. "Facts have been concealed before the Election Commission," he said.
The Haryana government has told the Election Commission that the sale of 3.5-acres for Rs 58 crores by Mr Vadra to real estate major DLF has not been sanctioned. But in a striking discrepancy from that explanation, an official letter in July by a bureaucrat clearly states that DLF is the registered owner of the property.
The BJP - which hopes to evict the Congress from office in Haryana - originally said the deal was cleared in a hurry as a "parting gift" from the Hooda administration to the First Family of the Congress. At a rally in Haryana this week, the Prime Minister said the Election Commission should investigate the incident.
The deal was originally challenged in 2012 by senior Haryana bureaucrat Ashok Khemka, who alleged that the government was bending the rules to allow a windfall gain to Mr Vadra on account of his A-list connections. The Haryana government later ruled that his allegations were baseless.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told NDTV that the BJP's core allegation, of a violation of the model code, has proven to be false. As for the other charges of wrongdoing, he dared the BJP to file a criminal complaint.
The powerful Election Commission announced earlier this week that the real estate deal was kosher at least on one front - it had not violated the model code of conduct that kicked in last month after election dates were announced. The code of conduct forbids the party in power from taking any important decision in its lameduck phase.
"The fact that it (the deal) may not be violating the model code does not exonerate the government of a scam," said Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. "Facts have been concealed before the Election Commission," he said.
The Haryana government has told the Election Commission that the sale of 3.5-acres for Rs 58 crores by Mr Vadra to real estate major DLF has not been sanctioned. But in a striking discrepancy from that explanation, an official letter in July by a bureaucrat clearly states that DLF is the registered owner of the property.
The BJP - which hopes to evict the Congress from office in Haryana - originally said the deal was cleared in a hurry as a "parting gift" from the Hooda administration to the First Family of the Congress. At a rally in Haryana this week, the Prime Minister said the Election Commission should investigate the incident.
The deal was originally challenged in 2012 by senior Haryana bureaucrat Ashok Khemka, who alleged that the government was bending the rules to allow a windfall gain to Mr Vadra on account of his A-list connections. The Haryana government later ruled that his allegations were baseless.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told NDTV that the BJP's core allegation, of a violation of the model code, has proven to be false. As for the other charges of wrongdoing, he dared the BJP to file a criminal complaint.
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