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Rahul Gandhi defends Robert Vadra against ED charges, Congress follows suit

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NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi led Congress’ defence of Robert Vadra in the wake of the ED chargesheet against him, calling it BJP govt’s witch-hunt against “my brother-in-law” and exuding confidence that the truth will prevail.

“My brother-in-law has been hounded by this govt for the last 10 years. This latest chargesheet is a continuation of that witch-hunt. I stand with Robert, Priyanka and their children as they face yet another onslaught of malicious, politically motivated slander and harassment. I know that they are all brave enough to withstand any kind of persecution and they will continue to do so with dignity. The truth will eventually prevail,” Rahul said on X.

The first-ever remarks from Rahul in favour of Vadra in the context of allegations of corruption against him also marked the Congress launching a full-fledged defence of the Gandhi family member it had refused to comment upon till now, and dubbed a “private citizen” when ED started the probe and questioning some years ago.

While Congress general secretaries KC Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala and others posted the party’s solidarity with Vadra on social media and slammed the “Modi-Shah duo”, Surjewala said there is “no illegality or whisper of a crime” in Shikohpur, Gurgaon, since not an inch of land in question was govt allotted, no licence was given to Vadra for “change of land use” and there was also no evasion of stamp duty. He said DLF has owned the land since 2012.

The public backing for Vadra marks a total contrast from the past when Congress maintained a silence as he was called for questioning by ED. Congress managers then had said the BJP ploy to mire the party in defending Vadra was to distract from allegations of corruption that the Modi govt was facing on several fronts, and the party preferred the distancing from a “private citizen”.

Court takes up Vadra land deal chargesheet

A Delhi court took up Friday an ED money laundering chargesheet against Robert Vadra, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi , and others in an alleged 2008 fraudulent land deal, listing it for verification of documents and slotting the matter for consideration onJuly 24.

Special judge Sushant Changotra asked the record keeper to check the chargesheet along with documents and give a report. ED had filed the chargesheet Thursday naming 11 individuals and entities as accused, including Vadra, his company Sky Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd, Onkareshwar Properties Pvt Ltd, Satyanand Yajee, and one Kewal Singh Virk.
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