Vadra hits back at Kejriwal, Bhushan

New Delhi : Attacking India Against Corruption members for levelling graft charges against him, Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Sunday said it was an attempt by them to malign his family’s image to gain publicity for their party.

“I’m saddened by the attempt of Shri (Arvind) Kejriwal and Shri (Prashant) Bhushan to deliberately misrepresent numbers contained in my financial statements, manufacture lies and malign my family in order to gain cheap publicity for themselves and for the launch of their political party,” Vadra said in a statement to NDTV.

“The allegations levelled against me by Kejriwal and Bhushan are utterly false, entirely baseless and defamatory,” he said.

Calling himself a law-abiding citizen engaged in business for over 21 years, Vadra said: “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.”

India Against Corruption (IAC) members Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan alleged Friday that Vadra had bought properties in Gurgaon and other places at below market rates and sold them at a huge profit.

DLF Saturday denied it had advanced any unsecured loan to Vadra, or sold its assets to him at throwaway prices, or that there was a quid pro quo in the transactions.

The Congress continued to defend Vadra and challenged Kejriwal to file a complaint.

“For cheap publicity, Kejriwal is doing this. Whatever they say is true? DLF has clarified. That’s not enough? You feel no agency can probe this fairly? What do they want? If they have any proof, let them go to court of law. They can ask for inquiry if they have evidence. But they can’t make allegations just like this,” Congress spokesman Rashid Alvi said.