NEW DELHI: The BJP Saturday cited the rise in Congress president Rahul Gandhi's income between 2004 and 2014 to question its source, claiming he had no ostensible source of income.
There was no response from the Congress.
BJP leader and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told the media that Gandhi's income had risen from over Rs 55 lakh in 2004 to Rs 9 crore in 2014 as per his election affidavits, and asked how can an MP witness such a jump in income.
"In his election affidavit in 2004, his income was Rs 55,38,123 while in 2009, it rose to Rs 2 crore and in 2014 it rose to Rs 9 crore. We know how much an MP earns. We want to ask what is this Rahul Gandhi model of development without an ostensible source of income," he said.
Referring to Gandhi's brother-in-law Robert Vadra, Prasad said, "Till now, we had seen the Vadra model of development under which you invest Rs 6-7 lakh and earn Rs 700-800 crore in two-three years. Now we have come across the Rahul Gandhi model of development."
The senior BJP leader also claimed that Gandhi and his sister had a 4.69-acre farmhouse in Delhi that was rented out to a firm, Financial Technologies(India) Limited, that had been issued show-cause notice for violations pertaining to National Spot Exchange promoted by it.
"When the notice was served, the place was rented out. FTL made a cheque payment of Rs 40 lakh. The firm has issued a notice and within 10 months the place was rented out to them," he said, questioning its timing. He also questioned Gandhi whether he had bought two properties of Rs 1.44 crore and Rs 5.36 crore from Unitech which was linked to the 2G spectrum allocation scam.
"The maximum trial in the case happened before we came to power. I had said the 2G judgement was legally unsound and morally improper. One judge had commented, 'I had been waiting for evidence for seven-eight years'. Are the wait for evidence and the property purchase linked? The matter is under appeal and we have asked for an expeditious hearing," he alleged.