Haryana polls: Has Cong shot itself in the foot with Vadra-DLF land deal?

Just ahead of the 15 October Assembly poll in Haryana, the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led government in the state has managed to embroil itself into a controversy by officially legitimising the land deal between Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra and DLF. In a letter to the Haryana chief secretary and the financial commissioner (revenue) on 16 July this year, Gurgaon deputy commissioner Shekhar Vidyarthi had informed the government that the land mutation stood “valid” as per the report of the assistant consolidation officer of the district. The revelation has led to immense furor and has become a hotcake for the BJP to exploit the matter. None othet than Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leading the charge in this regard.[caption id=“attachment_1743749” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Robert Vadra. PTI[/caption] “They (Hooda government) know that after the elections, the son-in-law (Vadra) will not get any clearances for illegal deals. So, in between the election process, they have dared to take such a decision,” Modi said at an election rally in Hisar today. “I think (Chief Minister Bhupinder) Hooda was pressurised from the top (Congress leadership) to take such a decision,” he said. Hooda was quick to rebut the prime minister, saying no wrong had been done in any land deal. “I am ready to quit if any wrong doing in any land deal is proved,” the chief minister said. Despite Hooda putting up a brave face, the Congress knows it would be tough to tackle the negative publicity that the party is likely to receive due to the controversial deal, especially, days away from the Assembly polls. The so-called land deal was always under the scanner as the then director general (Consolidation) IAS officer Ashok Khemka, had cancelled the mutation of the land between M/s Skylight Hospitality owned by Vadra and DLF Universal Limited in 2012. “Not an inch of land of the Haryana government was given to Robert Vadra by the Haryana government. Vadra’s stand has been vindicated by different courts including the Supreme Court, Allahabad High Court and the Delhi High Court. Prime Minister Modi is paddling half truth. There is not an iota of evidence against Robert Vadra. The BJP is in the habit of shooting and scooting,” Congress spokesperson Tehseen Poonawalla told Times Now during a debate. Not convinced by the Congress logic, the BJP found the timing of the deal suspect and felt it was not in the spirit right before the elections. “The Haryana legitimised the mutation in such a manner so that the benefits go to Robert Vadra alone. No other land deal was touched. What was the hurry to clear only a particular property belonging to one party?” asked BJP national spokesperson Siddhartha Nath Singh. Taking on the Congress further, he said, “Corruption is an important issue for us in the Haryana government. Even the Congress ministers in the UPA government had tried to shield Robert Vadra.” Unwilling to agree with the BJP viewpoint, senior advocate KTS Tulsi felt that the Haryana government “did not violate the Model Code of Conduct by legitimising the land deal” as per the provisions Representation of People Act. In terms of technicality, the Haryana government might be correct, but it is not the criteria for a common voter. The image of a particular political party is what the electorate has in mind. “This is about perception. In the public eye, Vadra is linked to humongous wrongdoing. And perception matters in politics,” said Delhi-based Roving Editor of ‘The Telegraph’ Sankarshan Thakur. Senior journalist Kumar Ketkar also agreed. “Why can’t the Congress understand that perception matters and it has bearing legally and even politically? The party should have taken care.” Will the Congress pay a price for allowing the Vadra land deal through or will the BJP again win another election by making corruption its plank? Only the coming 19 October has the answer. With PTI input