FILE: Businessman and Congress President Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra (Agence France-Presse photo)
New Delhi:
The Election Commission has said that there appears to be no violation of the model code of conduct by the Haryana government in clearing a land deal involving Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
Haryana, ruled currently by Mrs Gandhi's Congress, votes on October 15 for its next government.
At a recent election rally in the state, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi had asked the Election Commission to assess what he called the hasty sanctioning of Mr Vadra's deal with real estate major DLF. "Yesterday, despite the Model Code of Conduct, the son-in-law was given land. They know after the results he won't be given anything," the Prime Minister had said, adding, "The Election Commission should take cognizance and appropriate action in this regard."
PM Modi's party, the BJP, described the validation of the controversial deal between Mr Vadra and DLF as "a parting gift" from the state's Congress government to the party's First Family.
But Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said Mr Modi's speech was "factually incorrect and far from the truth," and that the deal was cleared following proper procedure in July before the model code of conduct kicked in.
Last evening, the Election Commission said in its two-page order, "...there does not seem to be any violation of the model code of conduct by the government of Haryana in the above matter after the coming into force of the model code of conduct from September 12..."
The deal had been described as illicit in 2012 by senior Haryana bureaucrat Ashok Khemka, who alleged that the rules were being bent for Mr Vadra on account of his hefty connections.
Mr Khemka cancelled the mutation of the 3.5 acres sold by Mr Vadra in 2008 to DLF - the mutation means the land title is officially transferred in local records to register the new owner. Mr Khemka was transferred three days later.
The Haryana government said an inquiry had found his allegations to be baseless. In July this year, the mutation was sanctioned by the state government.