Lalit Modi, Raje converted govt property into hotel: Cong; BJP denies charge

New Delhi/Jaipur, June 29 

Mounting pressure on her on the Lalit Modi controversy, the Congress on Monday accused Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje of “forcible, illegal occupation” of the Dholpur Palace along with Lalit Modi through a private company, a charge refuted by BJP.

Senior party leader Jairam Ramesh claimed in Delhi that Hemant Singh, the estranged husband of Raje, had admitted before a court that the palace was the property of the Rajasthan government. 

He told reporters that several revenue department documents between 1954 and 2010 showed that the palace was a government property but Raje and Lalit Modi's company has turned it into a “high end luxury hotel” and invested Rs 100 crore with no role of the state government.

Incidentally, this has happened post 2009 when the state was ruled by the Congress.

In Jaipur, state BJP president Ashok Parnami and Rajasthan Health Minister Rajendra Rathore rejected the charge levelled Ramesh that the Dholpur Palace does not belong to Dushyant.

Contesting Ramesh's claim, Parnami displayed before reporters documents which, he said, clearly proved that Hemant Singh had handed over the custody of the palace to Dushyant.

He said court documents were there to substantiate this.

Ramesh said that Raje in her 2013 assembly poll affidavit had admitted having shares of the Niyant Heritage Hotels Pvt Ltd along with her MP son Dushyant Singh and daughter-in-law Niharika, and Lalit Modi.

“The election affidavit reflects that she owns 3,280 shares, her son and daughter-in-law have 3,225 shares each and Lalit Modi's company Ananda Heritage Hotels Pvt Ltd 815 shares, establishing the financial relationship, partnership and investment of overseas money from a tax haven,” he said.

He said it proved her business partnership with the former IPL chief, who is now a “fugitive”.

The Congress leader alleged that Lalit Modi had used the “Mauritius route” to invest in the company.

He also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, describing him as “Swami Maunendra Baba” for his continued silence over the Lalitgate issue.

Congress has been demanding resignations of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Raje over Lalitgate, of HRD Minister Smriti Irani over misrepresenting facts about her educational qualification in separate election affidavits and of Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde for her alleged involvement in a “scam” by clearing purchases worth Rs 206 crore on a single day instead of inviting tenders in violation of the norms.

On Hemant Singh’s charge that Raje was making false claims, Parnami said, “We have affidavits signed by Hemant Singh regarding handing over (of the Dholpur palace) and taking over. Hemant Singh is now making false statements." 

"All documents presented by us before the media have been authenticated," he said.

PM need not react to everything: VK Singh

Meanwhile, dismissing criticism over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the Lalit Modi controversy, Union Minister V K Singh today said it is not necessary for the Prime Minister to react to everything and he will speak when the right time comes.

“Why do you want to force upon him that he should speak and speak? It is not appropriate to react to everything. If a news channel is running something, is it right on the part of the Prime Minister to speak on that? When the right time will come, the Prime Minister will speak,” Singh said.

In reply to a question that the Ministry of External Affairs has not responded to an RTI query on Lalit Modi, he said RTI has some rules and the Ministry must have given answer in accordance with that.

“Those who have to criticise, will do it anyways. So, there is no need to talk about that because often unnecessary things are blown out of proportion. These things have no ground,” he said on the sidelines of 9th Statistics Day here.

V K Singh is Minister of State for External and Overseas Indian Affairs apart from holding independent charge as Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation.

Some channels have been running news on Lalit Modi episode for over half a month now and they must have been acting at someone’s behest, he said in reply to a question that the MEA is hiding information.

“The channels have been doing this for the last 17 days. I ask them who has given them a contract for that,” he said.

On the demand for resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje before commencement of monsoon session of Parliament, he said it is the job of the opposition to speak and let them speak.

Swaraj and Raje have been facing the heat from various quarters, including from within the BJP, over their alleged role in facilitating travel related documents to former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi, who had fled to London in 2010 citing threats to his family’s safety.

Lalit is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate for his alleged role in embezzlement of funds and breaking code of conduct. — ANI/PTI