Gadkari case can't be compared with Vadra's, says Congress

As Haryana government gave a clean chit to Robert Vadra in the alleged dubious land deal case, the Congress on Friday mounted its attack on the BJP, saying there was no comparison between the allegations levelled against the president of the main Opposition Nitin Gadkari and son-in-law of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

“Vadra has nothing to do with the Congress while Gadkari is president of a national party and is among the contenders of the prime minister’s post from the BJP. There is sea of difference between the allegations levelled against them," party spokesperson Rashid Alvi said.

He also rejected the allegations that Congress party was adopting double standards on the issue of corruption by defending Vadra’s case. "There is no double standards. Whatever allegations were levelled against Vadra have been examined by the Haryana government before he was given  clean chit," he said.

An official probe by the deputy commissioners of four districts of Haryana inspected all documents registered from January 1, 2005 till date by or on behalf of Vadra or his companies in the capacity of either vendor or vendee and concluded that no deed was found registered as undervalued.

They found that the stamp duty paid on the lands registered by Vadra or his companies were “much higher than the collector's rate duly notified by the district collector” and said no loss of revenue was caused to the state by these sale deeds. The Congress leader also downplayed the allegations leveled against Union Minister Salman Khurshid, saying, the charges were leveled against an NGO, not the minister.

The Congress spokesperson used the opportunity to attack senior BJP leader L K Advani , saying, "it is a matter of great sorrow that all leaders of BJP including the one, who aspires to become the prime minister, is giving him a clean chit and congratulating him." He also recalled how the BJP was defending its former president Bangaru Laxman, who was later sent to jail by the court in the cash on camera scandal.

Alvi, however, maintained that the Congress was not demanding Gadkari's resignation as issue was an internal affair of the BJP. Meanwhile, the BJP described the Haryana government’s clean chit to Vadra as “self-certification”.