Coming under attack from Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan on Robert Vadra’s assets on Friday, the Congress tried hard to ward off allegations.
Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan called the allegations against Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Vadra as “low-level, below-belt” and made “against a person who is not even in public life”.
“These people are destroying all democratic norms by not focusing on real issues. They are trying to score cheap brownie points with sensational charges without substance,” Natarajan added. Similarly, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni accused Kejriwal-Bhushan duo of indulging in “baseless allegations, without proof”.
Describing DLF as a reputed business house of the country, Soni said: “Everyone has the right to do their own business. Robert Vadra is also a citizen of the country and, therefore, has the right to do business like anyone else.” Soni claimed there was nothing wrong in the transactions between Vadra and DLF as the details had been furnished before the right authorities. “Personal allegations should not be levelled against anyone without any proof.”
Minister of State Rajeev Shukla joined in to say “what is wrong if he has taken loan. This is how business is done. All businessmen take loans to build their business. May be Robert Vadra also did that. There is nothing to prove any wrongdoing. There is no proof that the Congress helped out DLF.”
Kejriwal-Bhushan duo has alleged that DLF sold flats to Vadra in Gurgaon at prices less than the market value in exchange for vast tracts of land given to them by the Congress-run Haryana government. They said while an independent investigation must be conducted, Vadra’s connection with the Congress first family ensured that an impartial inquiry is impossible.