Land case: Cong denies any wrongdoing, accuses BJP of vendetta

With the ED registering a money laundering case against former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Congress today came out in his defence asserting that no wrong had been done and charged the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state with misusing such agencies and unleashing "witch-hunt" and "political vendetta".
Denying any wrongdoing in acquisition of land in Manesar in Gurgaon, Hooda said, "No case is based on facts. It is purely politics of vendetta, vengeance and an attempt to defame us."
Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said his party would not be cowed down by such cases.

"Our leaders, including Hooda, have not committed any crime. They are clean. We are ready to face any inquiry provided the government does not act out of vindictiveness," he said.
Surjewala alleged the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state were using various agencies as their "political extension" and "misusing" them.
"We are not deterred by CBI search or CBI case, we are ready to face that also and we will face that in court of law and prove facts, but the issue they should rise above political vindictiveness," he said.

Addressing a press conference jointly with Surjewala and former Haryana Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Sharma, Hooda said that "modus operandi of the Haryana government is to register the case and then refer it to CBI."

He alleged that the BJP government was misleading people by "hiding facts".
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a money laundering case against Hooda and others in a case of alleged financial irregularities in acquisition of land in Gurgaon's Manesar in which farmers were allegedly cheated to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore.
The ED has filed a criminal complaint against the Congress leader based on a CBI FIR, under which the probe agency conducted searches in Haryana and the national capital last week.
Hooda said that private persons are registering complaints "and at whose behest they are doing so, everyone knows this."

"It is not prosecution, but naked persecution, which will boomerang on them. They are doing this to divert public attention from their own failures. But I am not going to yield or bend. They cannot keep Congress' or my voice down by such actions. CBI recently conducted searches, but it had to leave empty handed," the two-time former CM said.
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Surjewala said when these issues were raised earlier, Congress and Hooda had said they were ready for independent probe. "We had suggested (to Haryana government) to write to the High Court Chief justice to have an inquiry committee of two judges set up and we would present ourselves before that committee with all facts so that everything becomes crystal clear," he said.

"Unfortunately, the BJP government's agenda is to level accusations, defame and work with vendetta, slap false cases and start mudslinging campaign and try to muzzle voice of opponents," he said.
Hooda said the Prakash Singh Committee report on Jat stir issue indicted the people right up to the Chief Minister's Office and virtually held the CM responsible for the failure of the administration to control the situation.
"Now, BJP has unleashed vendetta to cover up its own failures by targeting opponents," he alleged.
He said the Justice Dhingra Commission report on land deals during the previous regime should be made public soon. "We are waiting for the report, we will consider moving court, if need arises," he said, "I have full faith in judiciary."

In the ED complaint, it has been alleged that a loss of Rs 1,500 crore was caused to the land owners of village Manesar, Naurangpur and Lakhnoula of Gurgaon.