In a rare display of political uprightness, JDS spokesperson Tanveer Ahmed on Wednesday admitted that he had “run out of lies” in his defence of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who was exposed by OpIndia investigation for his involvement in dubious land deals and links with armed dealer Sanjay Bhandari to influence Rafale deal.
Tanveer Ahmed, the JDS spokesperson was on the primetime debate with Republic TV’s Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami last night discussing the OpIndia expose on Rahul Gandhi’s dubious land deal and his alleged involvement in trying to scuttle the Rafale deal. After facing severe embarrassment for his inability to counter the allegations on their coalition partner Rahul Gandhi, Tanveer Ahmed in a moment of candour admitted that he had “run out of lies” to defend Congress President Rahul Gandhi.
The OpIndia exposé on Rahul Gandhi’s dubious land dealings had revealed that Rahul had purchased land from a person named HL Pahwa. Pahwa had also sold land to Robert Vadra thought his aide Mahesh Nagar. Even Priyanka Vadra was involved in buying land and later selling the same land to the same HL Pahwa at an inflated price. It has been revealed that HL Pahwa was receiving money from CC Thampi, a man under investigation for dealings with Vadra and arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari. A political storm had broken out after the expose with BJP leader and Minister Smriti Irani holding a press conference based on the story.
Sanjay Bhandari is the infamous arms dealer being investigated by ED. From 2012 to 2015, Sanjay Bhandari was lobbying to become the offset partner in the Rafale deal and Dassault had refused to indulge him. There were also allegations that Bhandari was lobbying for Eurofighter after the Dassault refused to indulge him. Sanjay Bhandari is also said to have received kickbacks in defence and petroleum deals during the Congress regime.
After the fallout of OpIndia’s report on the dubious deals involving Congress leaders and shady arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has reportedly summoned HL Pahwa and CC Thampi for further questioning on their dubious land deals with Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
