Rahul bought land for industry, gifted to sister
‘We were told, Rahul Gandhi had plans of developing the surrounding areas for industrial purposes, but nothing has been done till now,’ said the patwari’s grandson.
Rahul Gandhi and his brother-in-law Robert Vadra collectively own around 82 acres of agricultural land in Haryana’s Hasanpur village. According to the residents of Hasanpur, located in Palwal district’s Hodal tehsil, the Congress vice president bought his plot of land in 2008 to develop it as an industrial area. It is this land that Rahul Gandhi gifted to his sister Priyanka Vadra recently.
“No one from Gandhi’s office has visited the land since its purchase; hence, there is no demarcation between his and Vadra’s land. But according to our records, the total size of the land they both own is over 100 acres. Nearly 70 acres of that are under farming, while the rest 30 acres remain unused,” claimed Pradeep Dabas, the grandson of the village patwari (an official who keeps records of land ownership) and a local farmer who owns a plot adjacent to the Gandhi-Vadra land. The patwari could not meet these correspondents as he was bed-ridden.
“We were told that he had plans of developing the surrounding areas for industrial purposes, but nothing has been done till now,” Dabas added. The locals appeared hesitant to talk about the land.
According to a revenue department official in the know of things, Vadra owns around 74 acres of land, while Gandhi owns about 6.5 acres of sailab (land prone to floods) land. “Vadra bought the land in the name of two of his companies, Skylight Realty Pvt Ltd and Real Earth Estates Pvt Ltd,” he said.
While Skylight Realty Pvt owns 20 acres of land, Real Earth Estates Pvt Ltd owns 36 acres. “Vadra paid a total sum of Rs 42 lakh when he purchased the land under Sky Light Pvt Ltd at Rs 2.10 lakh per acre. He paid Rs 77.40 lakh for the land bought in the name of Real Earth Estates Pvt Ltd at the rate of Rs 2.15 lakh per acre. Both plots were purchased
sailab in 2009,” the official told these correspondents.
Vadra also owns 19 acres of land, which he bought for Rs 28.5 lakh at Rs 1.50 lakh per acre in January 2009. He bought 9 acres of land for Rs 36.9 lakh in March 2008, along with Gandhi, who had purchased 6.475 acres of land and reportedly paid Rs 26.47 lakh (now gifted to his sister Priyanka Vadra). This newspaper could not verify the ownership details of the land owned by Vadra.
As per the official, the current valuation of the land is Rs 12 lakh per acre. But the patwari in the village stated that the government valuation of the land in 2009 was Rs 12 lakh per acre, while the current price of the land is Rs 20 lakh per acre. In 2012, Om Prakash Chautala, the former Chief Minister of Haryana, had alleged that Gandhi had evaded paying tax while purchasing the land. “Rahul Gandhi purchased a piece of land measuring around 6.5 acre in Hasanpur village in Palwal district of Haryana in March 2008. He resorted to tax evasion in it. Rahul bought this land at the rate of Rs 1.5 lakh per acre as mentioned in the land registration deed even as its valuation by the government at that time was Rs 8 lakh per acre,” he alleged.
However, the Gandhi scion, in his affidavit filed in 2009, disclosed that he purchased only 6 acres, 3 kanals and 13 marlas in Hasanpur village, with a valuation of Rs 28.22 lakh. “Gandhi must have bought it for Rs 3-3.5 lakh per acre in 2008 from the local farmers, who were not deriving any benefits anything from that marshy land. Recently, a customer from Chandigarh had come to see the land,” Dabas said. As per a media report, Gandhi in his declaration in 2012 stated that he has gifted the land to his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Ramesh Mukheja, the block development officer (BDO) of Hodal, said that he was in Chandigarh for official work and was not aware of the details of the land. Hodal’s tehsildar, Dharampal, too said that he did not have any information about the land as he was new to his office. Repeated calls to Naresh Dhankad, the sub divisional officer (agriculture) did not elicit any response.
Currently, the Collectors Rate for the land in Hasanpur village is Rs 20 lakh per acre.