JOIN USThe Congress Thursday targeted India Against Corruption (IAC) member and senior advocate Prashant Bhushan and his family members over land in Himachal Pradesh allegedly acquired by an educational society linked to him at a concessional price.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Himachal Pradesh had given away the land in Palampur worth several crores of rupees to the educational society for just a few lakhs. Some members of the Bhushan family are part of the trust.
"But no work has taken place on the land, which is a garden land. It was given away to the educational society at a cheap rate. If this is not corruption, what is?" Shukla asked.
He told reporters here that the matter was raised by Congress legislators in Himachal Pradesh, but no action had been initiated by the state government.
Reacting to Shukla's allegations, Prashant Bhushan's father Shanti Bhushan said his family had committed no wrongdoing. The allotment was made after due legal processes were adhered to, he said.
"Let the government order a probe and investigate the matter thoroughly. We are ready to be probed," Shanti Bhushan, also a senior lawyer, said. The father and son are key members of the IAC.
The Congress has come under attack in recent days from IAC, whose member Arvind Kejriwal has targeted party chief Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra over his business deals with realty major DLF.
Kejriwal suggested there was a quid pro quo in the Vadra-DLF deals for land allotted to the company by the Congress-ruled Haryana government.