Vadra land deals to be probed

The Khattar Government in Haryana is set to appoint a Commission of Inquiry, headed by a retired Judge of the Supreme Court, to probe alleged irregularities during the 10-year Congress rule in Haryana, including controversial land deals involving AICC chief Sonia Gandhi’s businessman son-in-law Robert Vadra.
“A notification on the constitution of the Commission of Inquiry will be issued on May 15 — the day the BJP will holds a meeting of its state executive in Kurukshetra,” said Ram Bilas Sharma, Education Minister and No 2 in the Khattar government, today. All irregularities committed during the previous Hooda regime would be inquired into by the commission.
The proposed setting up of Commission of Inquiry is been seen as an attempt to checkmate Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who went on the offensive against the Central and state governments in New Delhi and Chandigarh, respectively, yesterday.
The probe into alleged questionable land deals of Vadra, especially the DLF-Vadra deal in Manesar (Gurgaon), was a major election issue of the BJP in the run-up to the parliamentary and Assembly elections in 2014 with even Prime Minister Narendra Modi aggressively flagging this issue. In October 2012, whistleblower IAS officer Ashok Khemka, as the Director General of Consolidation and Land Holdings, had cancelled the mutation of the land deal involving real estate giant DLF and Vadra.
However, Khemka, who was also present at minister’s press conference today as Secretary and Director General, Archaeology and Museums Department, preferred not to comment on the issue.
Meanwhile, Cabinet Minister Anil Vij took yet another dig at Rahul Gandhi over his ‘suit-boot ki sarkar’ barb. “The scams of Rahul Gandhi’s suited-booted (well dressed) brother-in-law Robert Vadra will definitely be probed, but in what way the probe will be held will be decided by the Chief Minister,” Vij tweeted.