Vadra hits back: ‘Kejriwal’s charges false... bid to get cheap publicity’

ROBERT Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, today rejected all allegations regarding his property dealings with DLF as "false, entirely baseless, and defamatory", maintaining that Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan were trying to "manufacture lies against me and malign me and my family" to get "cheap publicity".

Meanwhile, Corporate Affairs Minister M Veerappa Moily rejected Opposition BJP's demand for an inquiry into Kejriwal's allegations, saying "every maligning campaign cannot be followed by an investigation" as there is no substance in the allegations.

A day after he said he would "handle all the negativity", Vadra today issued a statement saying that he is a private law abiding citizen who has been engaged in business for the last 21 years.

"The allegations levelled against me by Shri Kejriwal and Shri Bhushan are utterly false, entirely baseless and defamatory. My business transactions are fully reflected in financial statements filed before appropriate government authorities in compliance with the law. They are available in the public domain to anyone interested in knowing the truth," he said.

"I am saddened by the attempt of Shri Kejriwal and Shri Bhushan to deliberately misrepresent numbers contained in my financial statements, manufacture lies against me and malign me and my family in order to gain cheap publicity for themselves and for the launch of their political party," said Vadra.

His statement came a day after DLF rejected the allegations that it had given unsecured loans to Vadra or there was any quid pro quo. The company had said that it had given Rs 65 crore as "business advances" for purchase of property as per standard industry practice. It had also said that Vadra had bought the properties at the prevailing market rates.

"DLF has issued a response. It is full of half truths and lies. A lot of information has been suppressed. We will issue a detailed response tomorrow. But does Vadra stand by DLF response or does he have another version.

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