Robert Vadra today dismissed as "utterly false, entirely baseless and defamatory" allegations over his property dealings with DLF in a press conference on Friday. and said he was saddened by the attempt of activists Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan to malign him and his family to "gain cheap publicity".
Here is the full text of the statement issued today in response to the charges levelled against him that have caused a political storim and seen the entire top leadership of the Congress party come out aggressively to defend him:
"I am a private law abiding citizen who has been engaged in business over the last 21 years.
The
allegations levelled against me by Shri Kejriwal and Shri Bhushan are
utterly false, entirely baseless and defamatory. My business
transactions are fully reflected in financial statements filed before
appropriate government authorities in compliance with the law.
They are available in the public domain to anyone interested in knowing the truth
I
am saddened by the attempt of Shri Kejriwal and Shri Bhushan to
deliberately misrepresent numbers contained in my financial statements,
manufacture lies and malign my family in order to gain cheap publicity
for them and for the launch of their political party."
The statement from 43-year-old Robert Vadra, Congress President Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law,
came a day after he broke
his silence over the controversy surrounding his property dealings,
in a post on a social networking site:
"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."
'Half Truths and Lies'
Kejriwal on his part claimed Vadra has not answered questions on his links with DLF and described as "half truths and lies" the
clarifications of the realty major to
allegations that the husband of Priyanka was given property at throw away prices for government favours.
Reacting to Vadra's remarks that he and Bhushan were maligning him and his family to "gain cheap publicity", Kejriwal said, "Robert Vadra has questioned our motives that is not important. He has not replied to the questions that we have raised."
Kejriwal earlier today described as "half truths and lies" the clarifications of reality major DLF on the allegations that Vadra was given property at throw away prices for government favours.
"DLF has issued a response. It is full of half truths and lies. A lot of information has been suppressed. But does Vadra stand by DLF response or does he have another version? I would appreciate his version," Kejriwal said.
He said he will not be able to respond to the specific issues in DLF's response today as his team is working on it.
"I had gone through the DLF response curiously. It is clear that there are a lot of information that they have suppressed...It will not be correct for me to respond now. We will issue a detailed response tomorrow.
"I just want to know if Robert Vadra has the same response or if he has a different version. He did not respond to any of the specific issues we have raised," Kejriwal said.
In a statement yesterday, DLF had said it had given Rs 65 crore as "business advances" out of which Rs 15 crore was fully refunded and Rs 50 crore was used for purchase of land.
Rejecting the allegations made by Kejriwal and Bhushan that the company favoured Vadra, DLF had said it neither received any undue benefit from any state governments nor was it allotted any land by Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan governments.
"'B' team of the BJP"
Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said the tactics adopted by Kejriwal were only continuous attempts to gain cheap publicity.
BJP
leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the parties concerned should put
forward concrete clarifications on the matter and put an end to the
issue.
"If one organisation claims there are some irregularities
and then Congress claims nothing of this sort...There will be no end to
this cycle," he added.
Congress has already dismissed opposition demands for a probe into the matter.
"An inquiry into what? Is a business transaction between two private entities duly reported to the statutory authorities illegal? Is it a crime," party spokesman Manish Tewari had said while terming the activists as 'B' team of BJP.
He was asked about demands for a probe into the affairs of Vadra as also how his business has grown to a level of Rs 300 crore from a tiny capital base.
The refrain of AICC as also of several Union Ministers was that all the information about the business of Vadra has been regularly filed with the statutory authorities.
Besides, Congress has maintained that the charges made by "B team of BJP" were nothing but "baseless and unsubstantiated".
NCP Chief and Union Minister Sharad Pawar also dared Kejriwal to approach court if he felt that his allegation against Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra had any substance.
"Of late, this is becoming a trend that anyone levels allegations, then keeps mum and later asks the government to conduct a judicial probe. But in such cases, anyone can approach court. Kejriwal can also go to court," the NCP chief told reporters here.
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Emerging story. Watch this space for updates as more details come in