Businessman Robert Vadra, husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and brother-in-law to Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, went to the Delhi office of the Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday morning after receiving a second summons. The first summons was sent on April 8.
His remarks are likely to be made under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, as he is being questioned over money laundering charges in connection with a land transaction in Haryana.
Vadra has vehemently condemned the ED's summons as a "political vendetta by the BJP" and a "witch hunt." While going to the ED office, he said, "Whenever I raise the voice of the people, they try to silence me. I have nothing to hide. Ask me anything you want, and I will respond accordingly."
He also charged the government with misusing the powers of investigative agencies, stating, "I do not have any fear. I have nothing to hide." Congress supporters followed him to the ED office, shouting slogans such as "jab Modi darta hai, ED ko aage karta hai," which means "whenever Modi is afraid, he calls the ED."
This comment was aimed at serial charges by Congress and other opposition parties, who say the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi employs central probe agencies such as the ED to target and intimidate opposition politicians, especially ahead of elections.
The accusation against Vadra is based on a property deal in Haryana made by his company, Skylight Hospitality, in 2008 for Rs 7.5 crore. Within months, he was granted permission to build a housing society on the property, which caused its value to appreciate sharply. Vadra subsequently sold the property to property developers DLF for Rs 58 crore.
Then, the Congress party was ruling in Haryana, with Bhupinder Hooda as Chief Minister. That has prompted the BJP to accuse the Congress of collusively doing the land deal for Vadra, claiming that it involved appropriating land from farmers for his benefit. But Hooda has consistently denied these accusations. In October last year, just ahead of the Assembly polls, he again came to the defense of the Congress and said, "I challenge that the Congress did not give even an inch of government land to Robert Vadra. If the BJP produces evidence of giving land to Vadra, I will quit politics."
At the same time, Robert Vadra has suggested a political future. Prior to the previous Lok Sabha elections, his name was reportedly floated for the Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh, a seat previously held by Rahul Gandhi before his shocking defeat to BJP's Smriti Irani in 2019.
Vadra spoke about his political engagement, stating, "My political association is just because I belong to the Gandhi family. However, I will also state that in the past few years, many parties have employed my name and always drawn me towards politics by default because whenever there is an election, they recall my name. Whenever they have a topic that they want to divert from, they recall my name."
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