BJP, Cong spar over Vadra-arms dealer link

Days after the Congress party demanded a probe into the business dealings of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah’s son, the BJP hit back on Tuesday.

It asked the Congress to explain the dealings between fugitive arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari and Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s sonin-law Robert Vadra ( pictured).

The cloud over the business dealings of Amit Shah’s son Jay and Vadra’s alleged association with Bhandari have been reported by the media recently.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP national headquarters here on Tuesday afternoon, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said there were three instances that suggest Vadra and Bhandari had business dealings.

In Bengaluru, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the Prime Minister could get “any investigation” done into allegations against Vadra. “Modiji has been in power for 41 months. They have governments in Haryana and Rajasthan. By all means, conduct any investigation,” Surejewala said. He said the BJP governments’ “witchhunt” and commissions of inquiries have not unearth any violation of laws either in Haryana or Rajasthan.

The defence minister said there was evidence of an email exchange between the two and that Bhandari had refurbished Vadra’s flat in London.

Sitharaman said in 2012 Bhandari purchased businessclass tickets for Vadra’s travel from Nice in France to Switzerland’s financial capital Zurich. Until now, Vadra has maintained that he has had no business dealing with Bhandari, who is wanted for questioning in his role in swinging a jet trainer deal for Swiss company Pilatus.

Sitharaman said Bhandari purchased the ticket on Vadra’s behalf from a Paharganj-based travel agency. She also claimed that 7.5 lakh Swiss franc was deposited in a bank account of B hand ari and asked if there was a connection between this and the money spent on refurbishing a London house linked to Vadra. Sitharaman said Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, who was recently very active on Twitter and has frequently asked questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has remained silent on the issue. She said the Congress leader was “copying” Prime Minister Narendra Modi.