Hooda accuses BJP of pursuing 'vendetta politics'

The BJP government is pursuing "vendetta politics", said former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday, two days after he was booked along with Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra for their alleged roles in some "irregular land deals" in Gurugram.

Hooda made the allegation denying that the state ever had any land scam during his tenure as chief minister and asserted the case against them has been lodged to divert the people's attention from the "controversial" Rafale aircraft deal.

Flanked by Rajasthan Congress Chief Sachin Pilot, Hooda reiterated the party's demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the aircraft deal, saying the price fixed for the aircraft was three times higher than what was fixed by the previous UPA government.

“There has been no land scam during my tenure as CM in Haryana. I have not bought even an inch of land. Whatever land I have, I have got it as a legacy from my father,” Hooda told reporters in a news conference.

The BJP government in the state is working "from behind curtains", said Hooda, adding the FIR against them was lodged on a private individual's complaint.

The case was lodged even before a panel set up by the state government to probe into the alleged irregular land deals gave its report, he added.

Had there been any proof of their roles in the land scam, they would not have been roaming free, he added.

An FIR against Vadra, Hooda, and two private firms was lodged under various penal sections of cheating and forgery on Saturday at Kherki Dhaula police station in Gurugram.

Hooda said he never indulged in vendetta politics against any party despite being the chief minister of Haryana for 10 years.

The act reeks of the BJP governments' frustration and their ploy to divert the people's attention from the Rafale aircraft deal.

Reiterating the Congress' demand for a JPC into the aircraft deal, Hooda said all doors, including that of moving courts, were open if their demand was not met.

The Rafale deal has been marred with huge corruption and the government was unable to answer the charges despite being questioned several times, he said.

The Rafale deal had been inked ignoring the defence procurement guidelines and keeping the Cabinet Committee in dark, the two leaders asserted, adding the work too was given to an inexperienced private firm.

Pilot said the avionics system, which the BJP government has claimed to be a reason for rise in the aircraft cost, is the same that the UPA government had agreed to in the deal.