Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi attacked the Manmohan Singh government for its defence of Robert Vadra but refrained from attacking Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law for allegedly receiving favours from real estate major DLF.
Addressing a meeting in Dwarka on Saturday, he lashed out at the UPA government. Without naming Vadra, he said, “Behaving as if the government was in danger, the entire Manmohan Singh government rushed to the rescue of the son-in-law of one family”.
Such a response is unprecedented, even in the times of a terror attack, he said. “When there’s a terror attack, only their spokesperson speaks. But when there’s an attack on the son-in-law of one family, the entire government rushes to the rescue.”
Referring to state Congress MP Vithal Radadia, who was caught brandishing a gun at a toll booth, Modi said, “The Congress MP created a ruckus with a gun in his hand, but no one from the party came to his aid.”
This was the first time Modi referred to the Vadra issue. So far, he had just focused on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi.
{{/usCountry}}This was the first time Modi referred to the Vadra issue. So far, he had just focused on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi.
{{/usCountry}}There was speculation that Modi had refrained from mentioning matter since his government had allegedly allotted around 100,000 sq m land in Gandhinagar to DLF at a rate less than the market price. Gujarat Congress president Arjun Modhvadia had even accused the government of causing a loss of R150 crore to the exchequer through it.
The government had denied it. But earlier this week, state BJP leader Purushottam Rupala had issued a statement saying the land, allotted to DLF for an IT Park, had been taken back in 2009 as the firm had failed to build any infrastructure.