BJP asks Hooda govt why it cleared Vadra deal in haste

On October 6, The Indian Express had reported that the Congress government officially legitimised the land deal between Vadra and DLF on July 16 despite objections from the state’s former director general, Consolidation, Ashok Khemka, who had cancelled the mutation of the land in Gurgaon. Following this, Modi, at a rally on Monday, alleged that there could have been pressure on the Hooda government from the Congress leadership to give the clearance before going out of power.

“Why did the Haryana government shy away from going to the higher appealing authority, the high court? Why was the government in an absolute haste to solve the problem before a particular date even when the two parties involved had no grievance?” Patra asked.

Congress hits back, calls Modi a ‘habitual liar’

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the Election Commission (EC) to take “serious note” of the Haryana government’s decision to clear a land deal between Robert Vadra and real estate firm DLF, the Congress hit back on Tuesday, calling the PM a “habitual liar”.

While the Congress did not deny that the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government officially legitimised the land deal between Vadra and DLF, it argued that “the work” was done before July 16, well before the model code of conduct came into effect in the state on September 12.

“In politics, sometimes people give wrong statements. But if the PM behaves like a habitual liar, it should be condemned… The PM has made such a wrong statement on the basis of a newspaper report not just to hoodwink and cheat the people of Haryana but also to mislead the EC,” AICC spokesperson Shakeel Ahmad said.

“The PM says the EC should take note of the work which has been completed before July 16 and see whether the code of conduct, which came into effect on September 12, has been violated. Such lies are not befitting to a PM,” Ahmad said.

The Congress also attacked Modi for his silence on the killing of civilians in firing by Pakistan troops, asking whether his “56 inch chest” had “shrunk to 5.6 inches”.