New Delhi: In the most sensational allegation, the Congress on Friday claimed that the ruling BJP went on buying land across the country after Prime Minister Modi”s tip-off to its president Amit Shah on the impending demonetisation to convert black into white.
Its vice-president Rahul Gandhi tweeted “Fully prepared for demonetisation.” immediately after the party”s chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala shared documents on Twitter, exposing how the BJP leaders went on buying land with cash and cheques in Bihar and other parts of the country just before the demonetisation.
Surjewala latched on to the news flashed by catchnews.com English news website run by Hindi daily Rajasthan Patrika that exposed the massive land purchases ordered by Amit Shah just days before the demonetisation.
The land purchases in crores were definitely to turn the party”s black money into white, he told a press conference here, asserting that the demonetisation is a massive scam that can be unearthed only by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) as demanded by the united Opposition in Parliament.
“Ab to ye saaf ho gaya hai ke kaale dhan ka aur BJP party ka choli daaman ka sath hai (now the BJP and black money link-up is quite clear,” Surjewala said.
The Congress also played up the catchnews report on Bihar BJP MLA Sanjeev Chaurasia”s revelation that “we were only signatory authority as the money had come from the party.” It tweeted: “BJP MLA exposes how his party under Shri Amit Shah laundered their black money by purchasing land across the nation.”
The catchnews quoted the Digha MLA stating that the BJP went on buying lands in large parcels and it was not just limited to Bihar but also in other states. The size of the land purchased ranged from 250 sq ft to half an acre valuing somewhere between Rs 8 lakh to Rs 1.16 crore.
The BJP functionaries made high-value land purchases worth crores of rupees, some on behalf of party president Amit Shah, days before Narendra Modi announced demonetisation policy, catchnews said. It said: “The party, in power at the Centre, bought several land parcels in Bihar up to the first week of November. And on 8 November Modi announced the ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1000.”
BJP Bihar MLA Sanjeev Chaurasia, one of the senior party functionaries who bought the land, said such purchases were made everywhere and not just Bihar. “We are merely the signatory authority; the money came from the party… the plots were bought for building party offices and other purposes,” Catchnews.com quoted him stating.
The Opposition parties have been alleging in the Rajya Sabha and outside Parliament that the BJP and Modi”s friends knew the demonetisation move in advance. “Your BJP units have deposited crores (just before the November 8 decision),” Congress deputy leader Anand Sharma asserted in the Rajya Sabha last week.
Catchnews says it accessed deeds of at least 10 such property transactions done by BJP functionaries in Bihar for the party. Some of them were even bought on behalf of BJP President Amit Shah.
It says land was acquired in cities and towns such as Madhubani, Katihar, Madhepura, Lakhisarai, Kishanganj and Arwal. The size of the plots acquired ranged from 250 sq feet to about half an acre. Their values range between Rs 8 lakh to Rs 1.16 crore. The costliest land parcel was bought at Rs 1,100 per sq feet.
