AHMEDABAD: A political storm has erupted in Gujarat after BJP MLA and former cabinet minister Raman Vora was accused of posing as a bogus farmer to purchase agricultural land. The controversy has snowballed with former BJP MLA Poonam Makwana and other complainants demanding criminal action, income-tax scrutiny, and cancellation of land deals allegedly involving Vora's family.
The case, which spans Gandhinagar and Idar, has triggered multiple investigations, Mamlatdar’s notices, and charges of political pressure to suppress evidence. The land scam controversy surrounding the MLA has intensified, with accusations that he falsely posed as a farmer to acquire agricultural land in Gandhinagar’s Palaj and Idar’s Dawad villages.
Makwana has taken the battle head-on, writing to the Gandhinagar Collector and demanding immediate action against Vora. He alleges that after purchasing the land in 2004 through partnerships, Vora manipulated records, used a bogus farmer certificate, and transferred the land in the names of his wife and sons before selling it off to his close associate Dinesh Patel for Rs 3.7 crore.
Patel, in turn, swiftly converted the land to non-agricultural status and handed it back to Vora’s sons Bhushan and Suhag. Makwana’s complaint has raised a bigger question whether these multi-crore deals were ever reflected in income-tax returns.
He has demanded that authorities not only probe tax evasion but also take criminal action under Sections 63 and 84-C, and restore the land to the genuine farmer partners. Bank and cheque-related discrepancies have also been highlighted as suspicious financial manoeuvres.
Adding fuel to the fire, Prakash Parmar of Ahmedabad filed another complaint before the Collector, presenting evidence that Vora was not a farmer in multiple survey lands in Dawad. He questioned why certain land deeds were reversed, demanding a full inquiry.
The Collector has since directed the Idar Deputy Collector to investigate and submit a detailed report. Meanwhile, the probe has shifted gears in Idar, where the Mamlatdar’s office has issued a notice to Vora, summoning him on September 1 with proof of farmer status and land documents.
Investigators claim Vora obtained a fraudulent farmer certificate under the false name Ramanlal Ishwarlal, using it to buy agricultural lands in Gandhinagar and Idar in the names of his wife, Kusumben, and sons.
Lands acquired in the names of Vora’s family were later sold off to individuals in Virpur and Jadar. But when Jetpur Wadali resident Rajendra Patel sought evidence, the then Mamlatdar allegedly withheld documents under political pressure. Patel’s threat to commit suicide at the Mamlatdar’s office forced the Revenue Department to intervene, transferring the officer and reopening the case.
Now, with fresh notices served and farmer records already being questioned as fake, Vora faces the real risk of punitive action under the Ganot Act in addition to criminal charges.