Vadra deals, US firm bribing case: BJP gets ready to trade punch for punch in Parliament

by Swati Deb Punch for punch and jab for jab – the embattled BJP has decided to meet the combativeness of the Congress with more combativeness in Parliament. Apprehensive of a united opposition attack on the twin issues of Lalitgate and Vyapam, the party has decided to rake up the controversial land deals of Robert Vadra in Rajasthan and Haryana and corruption issues in Assam and Goa to put the Congress on the defensive. BJP spokespersons and vocal MPs have been asked to get the lung power ready. BJP sources said in her meeting with party chief Amit Shah and other BJP trouble-shooters like Arun Jaitley Rajasthan’ Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, who is under attack over her association with controversial cricket administrator Lalit Modi, submitted papers related to Vadra’s land dealings in Rajasthan. “It has come to light rather convincingly that the Congress attack against Vasundhara was intensified after the Rajasthan government cancelled mutation of land purchased by his firm Skylight Hospitality Private Limited,” a source said. Making things worse for the Congress president’s son-in-law, the state government in January this year seized 360 hectares of land that the firm had bought in 2010. Moreover, it has come to light that “fake land deals were made by Vadra and others in villages like Gajner, Goileri and Madh Gaon”. The state government could soon pursue “further probe” in these. “So the needle of suspicion points at two former Congress CMs - Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan) and Digambar Kamat (Goa),” one leader said. In the ‘Louis Berger-bribe’ scam which allegedly took place in 2010 officials and ministers in Assam and Goa were bribed for water development projects in these two states. Congress’s Digambar Kamat was the chief minister and Churchill Alemao was Public Works Department minister in Goa when the bribe was allegedly paid. [caption id=“attachment_2326302” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] AFP[/caption] Similarly, Assam CM Tarun Gogoi has come under attack in Assam along with a former Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Louis Berger confessed to the bribery allegations and agreed to pay a fine of $17.1 million criminal fee. Two of its former executives – Richard Hirsch (61) of Philippines and James McClung (59) of the UAE pleaded guilty to the bribery charges. The Congress sought to be dismissive about the charges. A Congress spokesman today told reporters that the party stands for a thorough probe into the allegations. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi should talk to his friend US President Barack Obama and get the details,” he said. On the Land Bill, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu dismissed suggestions that it will not fructify this session saying, “there is no need to pre-judge things and I am confident that the JPC examining the Bill will make its recommendations and the suggestions of the panel will be accepted”. BJP party strategists feel contrary to the general impression, in the long run the Congress will find itself “isolated” as the state governments have already expressed willingness to enact land acquisition laws of their own. “Our strategy vis-a-vis Land Bill will be to present Congress as anti-development and as an antagonist outfit,” one key leader said. Other key aspects of strategies will be to reach out to regional parties. Despite indications that severa could join hands with the Congress, the BJP is confident most of them would be careful to stay away from the former. In an elaborate plan on reaching out to regional parties like Trinamool Congress, the AIADMK and the Samajwadi Party, BJP sources said, “Congress party was humbled in Lok Sabha polls and lost a series of assembly elections in states. Our message to these regional parties at  such juncture is when the Congress is desperate to revive itself, should these parties work under the same party who had been at one time their rivals in the states”. The BJP lawmakers and floor managers would also try to carry message that contrary to the allegations, the new Land Bill that the Modi government brought is timely and a necessary step.