Disparate political parties are speaking in the same voice on the transfer of Haryana IAS officer Ashok Khemka, who had been probing the land deals of Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s businessman son-in-law Robert Vadra. Anil Vij, leader of the BJP in the Haryana assembly, staged a demonstration outside the governor’s house and announced that his party would hold statewide protests on Wednesday against the deals, which he alleged were shady.

Vij told newspersons outside Haryana Raj Bhawan that the Congress government headed by Bhupinder Singh Hooda had unfairly punished Khemka, who was director general of land consolidation and registration before his transfer, for investigating the supposedly collusive activities of companies run by Vadra and real estate major DLF.

The BJP in New Delhi also lambasted the Haryana government. Party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said, “This is victimisation and exposes the ‘emergency mindset’ of the Congress as the transfer order was delivered at 10 in the night at his residence.”

Indian National Lok Dal chief Om Prakash Chautala, who too condemned Khemka’s transfer, sought a probe by a serving judge of the Supreme Court into all deals of Vadra’s companies.

The CPI(M) also assailed Khemka’s transfer and demanded its immediate withdrawal.