Priyanka Gandhi defends Vadra, but is it too late for Congress?

The Congress has constantly defended Robert Vadra against allegations of nepotism in his land dealings, but with Priyanka Gandhi also stepping in to defend her husband may only indicate how worried the party is about the issue affecting its chances at the polls. She may have  good reason to do so. While the BJP may have been accusing Vadra, it has, so far, not taken any legal action against him. But despite its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi saying there will be no political witch hunt, the party’s spokesperson said they will act on the matter if they come to power. “During the emergency also certain judgements were passed by the courts that the courts are ashamed of. The strategy is before a properly researched PIL is filed by a decent lawyer, some stupid litigation is filed so that they are dismissed,” Meenakshi Lekhi said on CNN-IBN during the debate on the show India at 9. [caption id=“attachment_1492123” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Priyanka Gandhi and Robert Vadra. AFP[/caption] “The BJP will act upon it when the time comes. It has been three months since the Rajasthan government has taken over. It is not just Rajasthan and Haryana. Even in Uttarakhand various documents have come up. How on earth does someone with the qualification that Vadra has, make Rs 1 lakh into more than Rs 300 crores?” she said. The BJP has alleged that Vadra benefited from being a member of the Gandhi family and was able to buy land that was later earmarked for government projects, thus earning him a windfall profit. Lekhi promised that there would be more investigations against Vadra once Modi comes to power. “The country needs to know how once person made so much of money in such less time. It is either a good business model or a fraud case. If there is no wrong doing, that model should be applicable to others,” Lekhi said. Priyanka’s decision to come out in defence of her husband may be too little too late for the Congress, that already lost ground to the BJP on the issue. “Why Priyanka Gandhi is now making these statements is because they realise the manner in which the BJP has gone about levelling allegations has struck a cord with the people. The BJP has been telling that the farmers of these that Vadra will come and run away with their land. This is what creates an impact on people. The people think that these allegations must have some merit,” Bhupendra Choubey, Political Affairs Editor at CNN-IBN said. He also pointed out that the strategy of targeting Vadra was an easy way to hit out at the Congress’s head. “This is a very deliberate intentional strategy. Modi’s big idea is to demolish the impact of the Gandhi family and what better way to do that than target Vadra himself?” Choubey said. The Congress, expectedly, continued to defend Vadra’s deals and said there was no illegality in any of the dealings. “There needs to be some evidence to back up the allegations. The only licence for land given to Robert Vadra was for 2.75 acres. He has never applied for any change for land use apart that and he has never been given government lands,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewalla said. “Anything else is a blatant lie. These allegations are unsubstantiated. This kind of witch hunt is totally defamatory and unacceptable,” Surjewalla said. Surjewalla also attempted to defend Vadra on the grounds that the allegations levelled against him have been rejected by courts. “This is classical Modi propaganda and political revenge. They levelled similar allegations against Sonia Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi. but the people of India who love, respect and adore the Gandhi family have rejected the allegations,” Surjewalla said. According to some, the defence of Vadra is equally important for Priyanka if she has any intention of entering politics. “Once the Congress is in the opposition there will be many cases against them. Also, if Priyanka Gandhi has to participate in politics the Congress has to defend Vadra,” said senior journalist Rashid Kidwai.