Congress has dared the BJP to explain the frequent contact Sidharth Nath Singh with Sanjay Bhandari. (File photo)
Highlights
- Robert Vadra being investigated for links to dubious arms dealer
- Congress says BJP's Sidharth Nath Singh spoke often to same man
- Open to any inquiry, no business links with him, says BJP's Singh
After NDTV reported that the government is investigating whether an arms dealer bought a
benami or proxy-owned house in London for Robert Vadra, the ruling BJP has been dared by the Congress to explain the regular and frequent contact of one of its leaders, Sidharth Nath Singh, with the same arms dealer, Sanjay Bhandari.
Mr Singh said that he has a long and close personal ties with Mr Bhandari, stressing, "It's a social relationship and friendship, certainly not a business relationship. Since the Congress has asked for an investigation into this, I must say that I have absolutely no issues with it. Please go ahead and carry out an investigation... I have nothing to hide."
"As far as 450-call allegation goes - I'm sorry that is completely incorrect," he said. Shehzaad Poonawalla of the Congress has written to the CBI asking it to examine if Mr Singh made "over 450 calls to Bhandari" quoting this
article in Outlook news magazine.
Yesterday, NDTV reported that the Finance Ministry is looking into whether Mr Bhandari, who was raided recently for alleged financial crimes, bought a benami house in 2009 in London for Mr Vadra, whose mother-in-law Sonia Gandhi heads the Congress.
Mr Vadra's lawyers have denied the allegations as completely baseless. Mrs Gandhi today said that the government levels "false allegations every day" to discredit her party.