caught in a
controversy over allegations that he was favoured by realty major DLF,
Robert Vadra has broken his silence saying he can "handle all the
negativity" even as Congress and BJP sparred over the issue.
"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," Vadra,
son-in-law of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, said in his post on a social
networking site.
DLF insisted
that its "business relationship" with Vadra or his companies had been
conducted in individual capacity as per the "highest standards of ethics
and transparency" and that it had "not received any undue benefit from
any state government or any government authorities in any part of
India".
DLF said in a statement that no unsecured loans were provided by it.
Arvind Kejriwal,
who levelled allegations against Vadra, son-in-law of Congress President
Sonia Gandhi, at a press conference in New Delhi on Friday, said he was
ready to face defamation case if his charges were proved untrue.
He
had alleged that property worth Rs 300 crore was given at throwaway
prices by DLF to companies owned by Vadra with an unsecured interest
free loan of Rs 65 crore from given by the realty firm.
Without
getting into specifics of the allegations, sources close to Vadra
quoted him as saying that he "can handle all the negativity."
Apparently suggesting that he had seen worse situations, he stated, "(I) lost people I loved... What can be worse
Congress leadership continued to come to Vadra's defence.
Transactions
between two private individuals could not be questioned on the basis of
"implied act of corruption", Finance Minister P Chidambaram said in
Mumbai.
The AICC, too, came
in support of the 43-year-old businessman married to Priyanka Gandhi,
with party spokesman Manish Tewari rejecting demands for a probe into
the matter asking "an inquiry into what?"
BJP
spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad told reporters in Jaipur that "it is
the expectation of people of the country that the matter should be
investigated. It should also be probed what benefits Congress state
governments in Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi gave to Vadra."
Chidambaram said
what he has gathered is that these transactions are between two private
individuals and they have been disclosed in the appropriate income tax
and other returns.
"...nobody has alleged any quid pro quo or any corrupt motive, beyond that I cannot say anything," he added.
"I
am not aware of the rightness or wrongness of the allegations...
transactions between two private individuals cannot be questioned on the
basis of certain imputed or implied act of corruption," the Finance
Minister said.
In a four-page
point-by-point rebuttal of Kejriwal's allegations, DLF said, "we wish
to categorically state that the DLF has given no unsecured loans to Mr
Vadra or any of his companies."
Denying
any quid pro quo, it said, "there is no question of offering, let
alone, selling Mr Vadra or his group of companies any property at a
throwaway price."
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Insisting that
all business transactions between DLF and Vadra and his group of
companies have been conducted "with complete transparency", it said
these are "fully accounted for" and "there is no question of utilisation
of unaccounted black money or illicit funds as alleged."
Haryana
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, whose government has been accused
of favouring DLF in lieu of benefits to Vadra, denied the charges.
In
Ralegaon Sidhi (Maharashtra), Anna Hazare said Congress should order a
judicial probe if it is sure that the charges against Vadra are false.
"Many
Congress leaders say that these allegations are only because of
electoral compulsions and are baseless. We say that if the allegations
are untrue, then why don't they order a judicial probe into it. And now
if it is false, file a defamation case against Arvind. Truth will be
out," he said.
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