Congress General-Secretary Digvijay Singh on Sunday suggested there was evidence against the kin of former Prime Minster Atal Bihari Vajpayee and senior BJP leader L K Advani of alleged corruption and wrongdoing but the Congress would never use it to embarrass them. He rejected as “hollow” and “media hype” the allegations of a “nexus” between Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, Robert Vadra, DLF and the Congress government in Haryana to give Vadra undue benefits in land dealings. Defending Gandhi, he said she was not Vadra’s chartered accountant to question his rising assets.
“There were a lot of things that came out during the NDA regime. But did the Congress party ever use any of those? If I say, I do not have it (evidence against kin of Advani and Vajpayee), it is not correct,” Singh said replying to a volley of questions by Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN’s Devil’s Advocate.
He was asked about his statement that he had evidence against kin of Vajpayee and Advani. Replying to questions, Singh said the evidence, which he had “could” lead to allegations of corruption and wrong-doing against them and would be embarrassing for the leaders.
The AICC general secretary was quick to add “politicians are also human beings. We are not gods... We can’t keep a track or check on the innumerable relations we have”.
“Why should I be a complainant?” Singh shot back, arguing there was Parliament and a number of authorities to look into these matters, when asked why he was not disclosing the evidence he had against the kin of Vajpayee and Advani.
Dismissing allegations against Vadra, Singh said there was no illegality in speedy clearance in mutation of land, said to have happened in DLF-Vadra land deals.
When asked if the Congress president was aware of the rise in fortune of Vadra and whether she ever questioned it, Singh said, “Sonia Gandhi is not the chartered accountant of Robert Vadra... I wonder whether mothers-in-law also do the accounting for sons-in- law.”
It is now being questioned why the files moved so fast in the case of Vadra’s land dealings, Singh said, adding that speed was not impropriety and should instead be rewarded.
“What is the nexus between Vadra and the Haryana government run by the Congress? Has Sonia Gandhi ever spoken about Vadra to Chief Minister or ministers... You cannot hang Sonia Gandhi with your allegations for an act, which she has not done,” Singh said, stressing that he wanted to demolish the perception of nexus and corruption in the whole issue.
“I am a politician. What my relations do is not my business,” he added, saying that he also had four daughters and four sons-in-law but he was not after what they were doing.
Repeatedly questioned about land deals between DLF and Vadra, Singh said it was something for DLF to answer and asked: “From where does Sonia Gandhi come into this?”
Vadra came from an eminent family and a person who had assets before he married Priyanka Gandhi, he said.
“If any one had bought land in Haryana some 10 years back, it would have gone up 100 times by now,” he said, when asked about Vadra’s fortune growing exponentially after his marriage into the Gandhi family.
Singh also sought to dismiss suggestions that Haryana IAS officer Ashok Khemka was transferred abruptly because he started investigating the land deals of Vadra. “Did Vadra complain against Khemka. The chief secretary called Khemka and he said he was quite satisfied,” he said.
Asked about Vadra’s controversial “Mango man in banana republic” comment, Singh said the first was only a literal translation of aam aadmi having “great humour” and “absolute wit”, but admitted that the second part of it was “not correct”. “I think he will be wiser now,” the Congress leader added.
He also rejected suggestions that the Vadra episode had damaged the image of the Congress and the Gandhi family, saying he, DLF and the Haryana government had given point-wise facts on the allegations.
