New Delhi, Aug 13 (DHNS) : At a time when the Congress is contesting IAS officer Ashok Khemka’s claims, party MP Rao Inderjeet Singh on Monday came in support of the whistle-blower demanding a CBI probe into the land deals in Haryana, including that of party chief Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra.

Though Singh is targetting his arch rival, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the demand for a “thorough probe” rising from within the party ranks has embarrassed the Congress which had alleged that Khemka was a tool in the hands of the BJP. 
The Gurgaon MP said Khemka deserved a fair trial, while targeting the Hooda government for being “very lax”.

“I feel the administration has not functioned the way it ought to have. I’m not in the business of prosecuting Robert Vadra. I’m in the business of seeing that in my constituency if anybody has made money illegally, they should all be held accountable and if that includes Robert Vadra, he should be held accountable as well,” Singh said.

“Let there be an investigation not just into the four acre deal done by Vadra, but a probe into the whole 21,000 acres of land deals that was carried out between 2005 and 2012,” Singh, a known detractor of Hooda who recently launched “Insaaf Manch”, said.

He said the Haryana government cannot do justice to the probe. “I have a problem with the way Hooda runs the administration. I do not understand how he works. He does not listen,” Singh said.

The 63-year-old MP, who is reportedly contemplating quitting the Congress due to differences with the chief minister, also chose not to respond when asked whether the cases of Durga Shakti Nagpal and Ashok Khemka were similar.

Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury parried questions on the Vadra land deal and said that the state government was seized of the matter. “This is a state government issue. They have already given you the clarification. I think the state government knows how to mind their own business. Why should we enquire in that?” she said. On Singh’s remarks, she said the Congress MP has clarified that what he said was categorically not what was interpreted. “I suggest you to talk to him and clear about what he intended,” she said.

The fresh controversy erupted over alleged irregularities in land deals by Vadra came to light after Khemka’s response to a government panel indicting him for acting beyond his official capacity became public.

In his response, Khemka said the purchase of land by Vadra from Onkareshwar Properties was a “sham deal” and there was illegality in the transfer of land to realty major DLF. The Haryana government has rejected the contentions of Khemka and said, “As far as the exchange of sale consideration is concerned, it is a matter between private parties which cannot be gone into by the director. It is reiterated that no fake papers were submitted to the department as alleged.” Incidentally, the state government echoes the line taken by the prime minister’s office which said the allegations are “false, based on hearsay and vexatious”.