Businessman Robert Vadra, who is Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s husband, said on Sunday he will campaign for the party across the country for the upcoming general elections, an announcement that invited a sharp reaction from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
A month after his wife joined active politics with her appointment as a Congress general secretary incharge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Vadra had in February said he wanted a larger role in serving the people.
“Yes. All over India, after the filing of nominations [by Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi],” Vadra told news agency ANI on Sunday after being asked if he will campaign for the Congress ahead of the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls that begin April 11.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi will file his nomination from Amethi on April 10 and his mother, United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, will file her nomination from the Rae Bareli seat on April 11.
Vadra is being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate for alleged involvement in a money-laundering racket, a charge he has denied. Criticising Vadra’s decision, Union minister Smriti Irani told ANI: “I just want to say that wherever Robert Vadra wants to go for campaigning, people of that place should save their lands.”