Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Congress strategists, who are miffed with the BJP targeting Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra over his alleged land deals, feel it is to time to pay the saffron party back in the same coin.
Days after corruption charges surfaced against BJP chief Amit Shah’s son Jay, Rahul Gandhi urged PM Modi to clarify the issue. “Modiji, Jay Shah ate too much. Were you a gatekeeper or a partner. Please say something,” Rahul tweeted in Hindi. He also spoke about the issue while campaigning in Gujarat.
Hours later, Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma demanded the PM should set up an independent probe into the allegations and remove the BJP chief till the process was complete. “The PM should set up a probe. Amit Shah should be removed as an independent probe may not be possible if he heads the BJP,” said Sharma said at an AICC briefing.
Senior party leaders were deployed to hold separate press conferences in 10 key cities to take the message outside the national capital.
Congress insiders said the Jay Shah episode is like the BJP’s Robert Vadra moment and it was time to hit back at the saffron party, which has been questioning the shady land deals of Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law. “When the BJP was in the opposition it used to talk about issues of probity in public life. As opposition, it is our duty to ask the same questions,” Sharma said without mentioning the Vadra issue.
Interestingly, there are similarities in the controversies around Vadra and Jay. While both the Congress and the BJP defended allegations against Vadra and Jay saying they were private citizens and the charges were entirely baseless, in both cases the wealth of the respective businessmen grew manifold in a year, defying normal profit margins.
The CBI is already probing Vadra’s land deals in Rajasthan while Justice SN Dhingra panel has submitted a report on such deals in Haryana to chief minister ML Khattar.
“The BJP claims it is against coruption. If there is nothing against Jai Shah, the probe will clear that, but the questions that have been raised must be looked into,” said Sharma.
