Priyanka says ET claims false
Congress president, Sonia Gandhi’s daughter, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday questioned Economic Times for making “queries” over the alleged land deals being probed by the Dhingra Commission.
An official statement released by her office stated that “any allegations made by the Economic Times in this purported article and/or any headline which besmirches the reputation of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra appear to be based upon certain questionable documents and represent a deliberate, politically motivated and malicious campaign to besmirch and destroy her reputation. They will be entirely false, utterly baseless and defamatory.”
The statement stated that “certain queries were addressed by a journalist of the Economic Times, in relation to my husband, alleged that I had acquired properties with illegally acquired funds.” Ms Vadra further added; “It was incomprehensible to me that the correspondent would not even seek a clarification from me or my office directly therefore I addressed a letter to the editor of the publication setting out the truthful and correct version of facts.”
In her bid to clarify that she has in no way benefitted from any controversial land deal, her release read; “Six years prior to the purported land deal involving Skylight Hospitality, on April 28, 2006 Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, purchased around five acres of agricultural land in Village Amipur, Tehsil Faridabad, District Faridabad in Haryana.”
The release further maintained; “The land was purchased for a total of `15,00,000 paid for entirely by cheque, which is the equivalent of `3,00,000 per acre. The source of funds for the aforesaid purchase was rental income of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from property inherited by her from her grandmother Indira Gandhi. The source of funds for this or any other property acquired by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has no relationship whatsoever with Robert Vadra’s finances and/or Skylight Hospitality and no relationship whatsoever with DLF.”
The release went on to state that Ms Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, “resold the said land to the original vendor pursuant to a right of first refusal on February 17, 2010 for a sale price of `80,00,000 entirely by cheque which is the equivalent of `16,00,000 per acre and was the prevailing market rate at that time”.
The Haryana government had recently submitted in the Supreme Court an report by the Justice S.N. Dhingra Commission, which had probed alleged irregularities in granting of licences to developers in four villages of Gurgaon by the previous Congress government.
The report submitted to the Haryana government by former High Court Judge Justice S.N. Dhingra in August last year has not yet been made public.
The report apparently probed alleged irregularities in land deals by Mrs Gandhi's son-in-law, Robert Vadra.