Vadra hits back at Kejriwal, Bhushan

Robert Vadra on Sunday dismissed as “utterly false, entirely baseless and defamatory” allegations over his property dealings with DLF and said he was saddened by attempt of activists Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan to malign him and his family to “gain cheap publicity.” “I am a private law abiding citizen who has been engaged in business over the last 21 years. The allegations levelled against me by Kejriwal and Bhushan are utterly false, entirely baseless and defamatory,” Vadra, Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, said in a statement, two days after charges made by the civil society activists at a press conference here created a political storm. The 43-year-old Vadra said he was “saddened by the attempt of Kejriwal and Bhushan to deliberately misrepresent numbers contained in my financial statements, manufacture lies against me and malign me and my family in order to gain cheap publicity for themselves and for the launch of their political party.” He said, “My business transactions are fully reflected in financial statements filed before appropriate government authorities in compliance with the law. “They are available in the public domain to anyone interested in knowing the truth.” His statement came a day after he broke his silence over the controversy surrounding his property dealings, saying he could “handle all the negativity.” Kejriwal earlier on Sunday described as “half truths and lies” the clarifications of reality major DLF on the allegations that Vadra was given property at throw away prices for government favours. “DLF has issued a response. It is full of half truths and lies. A lot of information has been suppressed,” he tweeted. “We will issue a detailed response on Monday. But does Vadra stand by DLF response or does he have another version. Would appreciate his version,” Kejriwal said. DLF has rejected the allegations that it had given unsecured loans to Vadra as a “quid pro quo” for favours and said it had transparent dealing with him as an individual entrepreneur. In a statement on Saturday, the company had said it had given Rs650 millions as “business advances” out of which Rs150 million was fully refunded and Rs500 million was used for purchase of land. Rejecting the allegations made by activists Kejriwal and Bhushan that the company favoured Vadra, DLF had said it neither received any undue benefit from any state governments nor was it alloted any land by Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan governments. DLF had also dismissed the charge that the company sold properties to Vadra and his companies at a throwaway price. Vadra had said on Saturday in his post on a social networking site, “Thank you so much for your concern. I am fine and can handle all the negativity. I have lost people I loved, what can be worse.” Congress has already dismissed opposition demands for a probe into the matter. “An inquiry into what? Is a business transaction between two private entities duly reported to the statutory authorities illegal? Is it a crime,” party spokesman Manish Tewari had said while terming the activists as “B” team of BJP. He was asked about demands for a probe into the affairs of Vadra as also how his business has grown to a level of Rs3 billion from a tiny capital base. The refrain of AICC as also several union ministers was that all the information about the business of Vadra has been regularly filed with the statutory authorities. Besides, Congress has maintained that the charges made by “B team of BJP” were nothing but “baseless and unsubstantiated.” Kejriwal said, “Robert Vadra has questioned our motives that is not important. He has not replied to the questions that we have raised.” Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said the tactics adopted by Kejriwal were only continuous attempts to gain cheap publicity. Bharatiya Janata Party leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the parties concerned should put forward concrete clarifications on the matter and put an end to the issue.   From gulftoday