Robert Vadra land deal: Haryana Cong puts up brave face as HC sets up probe commission

Chandigarh: Congress’ calm could be fake but by the appearance of it the party in Haryana does not seem to be too perturbed by the setting up of the Commission of Enquiry (CoI) headed by SN Dhingra, a retired judge of the Delhi High Court, to probe the alleged irregularities in grant of licence for the development of commercial colonies by the Department of Town and Country Planning to some entities in Sector 83, Gurgaon, during the 10-year Congress rule. This includes controversial land deals of Robert Vadra, son-in-law of AICC president Sonia Gandhi. There is a general feeling that although the commission has been set up to probe all the controversial land deals in the last decade, the main target of the BJP government in Haryana was Vadra. The CoI will submit its report to the state government as soon as possible but not later than six months from the date of its first sitting. [caption id=“attachment_2247100” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Robert Vadra. PTI[/caption] Incidentally, the probe into alleged controversial land deals of Vadra, especially the DLF-Vadra deal in Manesar (Gurgaon), was a major issue for the BJP in the run-up to the parliamentary and assembly elections in 2014. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken up the issue to attack the then ruling Congress in Haryana. It had been highlighted earlier in October 2012 when whistleblower IAS officer Ashok Khemka, who was the Director General of Consolidation and Land Holdings, Haryana, at that point had cancelled the mutation of the land deal involving real estate giant DLF and Vadra. Speaking t_o Firstpost_ Haryana Congress spokesman Pawan Jain said they were not at all disturbed by the setting up of the enquiry commission. In fact, he welcomed the government’s decision. “We welcome the commission. Let it probe what it wants. The Congress is not afraid of any such probe. Everyone knows that all legalities had been followed by the Bhupinder Singh government in Haryana in the land deals. The Commission will not be able to find out any discrepancy in the Vadra case in the Gurgaon (Manesar) land deal. So why should we worry about its outcome? Let the DLF or the Rahejas or those companies who have something to hide worry about the probe,” he said. Jain said the setting up of the CoI was a clear indication that the BJP government had become afraid of the rising popularity and influence of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. “It is clearly a politically motivated action. The BJP government in Haryana fears that Rahul’s growing influence may pose problem for it in near future. It is a time-tested method of distracting people’s attention from the main issues, including national security, growing unemployment, rising prices and government’s silence on black money.” BJP leaders of Haryana, including Health Minister Anil Vij and Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu, had claimed on the very first day of the BJP government coming to power that the controversial land deal of Vadra will be probed thoroughly by the Haryana government, but it took the government six months to set up the Commission of Enquiry. Ashok Khemka, who is now Secretary and Director General, Archaeology and Museums Department, declined to make any comment on the issue. But Health Minister Anil Vij was quick to take pot-shot at Rahul Gandhi over his ‘suit-boot ki sarkar’ comment about the Modi government. He tweeted, “The scams of Rahul Gandhi’s suited-booted (well dressed) brother-in-law Robert Vadra will definitely be probed, but in what way the probe will be held will be decided by the Chief Minister." Incidentally earlier the CAG had alleged that Vadra’s firm was one of the nine companies in the area which had not submitted documents on financial adequacy. Reacting on the setting up of the CoI, Digvijay Chautala, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader said, “We welcome the move. The truth will come out soon. We were the only party that had raised the scandals in the land deals in Haryana. We had even submitted a memorandum to the Haryana governor demanding a thorough probe into all the controversial land deals during Bhupinder Singh Hooda government’s rule. We are very happy the CoI has been set up. It just shows how right we were in highlighting corruption during Hooda’s regime. Speaking to Firstpost, political activist and Swaraj Samvad leader Rajiv Godara said they welcome the move to probe the controversial land deals in Haryana. “The very fact that the land deals in Sector 83 of Gurgaon would be probed means that it was a vendetta move by the BJP government because it is in this region that the controversial land deal between Vadra and DLF took place. We are for a fair deal. All those people who have nothing to hide should not be afraid of the judicial probe," said Godara.