"Political vendetta", says Robert Vadra ahead of ED questioning in money laundering case

New Delhi: Robert Vadra, businessman and brother-in-law of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday in connection with an ongoing money laundering investigation linked to the Shikhopur land deal in Haryana. 

Vadra, who failed to appear before the agency on April 8, termed the probe a "political vendetta."

Speaking to reporters amidst a crowd of journalists and supporters, Vadra, the husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi, expressed frustration over the summons. 

"I don’t know what is the fault. It is a political vendetta, only old accusations, rubbish—this is the misuse of the agencies," he said.

The Shikhopur land deal has long been controversial. In 2012, IAS officer Ashok Khemka, then director general of consolidation of holdings in Haryana, set aside the mutation of the 3.53-acre plot, citing irregularities. 

A Haryana Police special investigating team (SIT) later probed the deal following a 2018 FIR, seeking clarification on the legal provisions governing the land's mutation. 

Additionally, a 2014 Punjab and Haryana High Court ruling had directed the state to invite fresh bids for such transactions.

This is not the first time Vadra has accused investigative agencies of being weaponised for political purposes. In 2022, during an ED probe into Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Vadra had claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was targeting the Gandhi family to divert attention from public dissatisfaction with government policies.

In 2024, a separate 14-acre land deal near Panchkula was halted due to discrepancies in surplus land categorisation under the Haryana Ceiling on Land Holdings Act, 1972. 

However, courts have so far declined to quash these investigations, leaving the legal battles ongoing.