As if it was not enough that the Gandhi family unleashed Rahul Gandhi on the country, now, Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra, on Thursday, revealed his desire to join politics and said that he has to be in the Parliament to “fight this kind of dynamics”. His response came against the backdrop of the ongoing investigation against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Benami property case.
News agency IANS reported Vadra saying: “I am related to a family that has for generations served the people of this country & have even been martyred for the country. I have seen, learnt, campaigned, spent time in different parts of the country & I suppose to fight this kind of dynamic I have to be in Parliament.”
Vadra alleged that he was subjected to such treatment because he is related to a prominent political family.
Vadra furthered he will take the decision to join politics at an opportune time. “When I see a place where people will vote me to represent them and I can make a difference for people in that area and if my family approves of it,” he said.
“Priyanka is always supportive. I am talking about the entire family and when they approve of it, I can be in politics and fight my issues in the political arena,” said Vadra on Thursday at his Sukhdev Vihar office.
Earlier this week, the ED sleuths grilled Robert Vadra for consecutive days questioning him over the alleged Benami properties matter. The total value of these properties, allegedly purchased by Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, between 2005 and 2010, is believed to be 12 million pounds.
Interestingly, this is not the first time Vadra’s political aspirations have been revealed. In 2019, Vadra had indicated that he is ready for a “larger role in serving the people”. And what was even more interesting was that within hours after Vadra had posted his intention to plunge into politics, posters had been raised in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh which requested Robert Vadra to contest elections from Moradabad Lok Sabha constituency.
A month later, posters urging him to contest from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh had also come up.
At this point, it becomes almost imperative to remind Vadra that on March 6, 2019, while speaking to ANI he had vowed not to join politics until his name is cleared in the money laundering cases.
Robert Vadra is accused of money laundering case and dubious land deal cases
As per the ED, Vadra was beneficially controlling the £ 1.9 million London property. Vadra had also allegedly executed renovation work for the same and arranged for funds. Absconding defence dealer Sanjay Bhandari, Vadra’s aide, allegedly purchased the property for £ 1.9 million and sold it to a Vadra-controlled firm for the same amount after allegedly spending £ 65,900 on renovating it. The ED maintained that Bhandari was not the actual owner of the property, but it was beneficially owned by Vadra and accused him of money laundering.
Besides this, there are two more properties worth 4 million pounds (around ₹ 37.42 crore) and 5 million pounds (more than ₹ 46.77 crore). Six other flats are also suspected to be owned by Mr Vadra, according to sources Enforcement Directorate.
Moreover, Vadra is also being investigated in the Bikaner land scam. The ED had registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in this matter in 2015, after the state police had filed FIRs based on a complaint by local tehsildar alleging forgery in the deal.
Besides, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had in 2019 also filed a fresh money laundering case against the firm, Skylight Hospitality, linked to Congress’ Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, Robert Vadra in connection with financial and other irregularities in land deals in Haryana’s Gurgaon in 2008.
Robert Vadra is presently out on anticipatory bail in a money laundering case.
