New Delhi: Robert Vadra, husband of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Congress general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, has on Tuesday slammed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for dragging his name in the New Delhi Railway station monetization allegation.
In a Facebook post, Vadra wrote, "Know your facts, Nirmala Ji! I am shocked that a minister of your stature makes claims & utterances without any fact check or merit! For the record, I have nothing to do with any 'Railway Station'! The only relationship I have with the railways is that of a passenger taking train journeys!"
"I urge you as well as other political leaders in the ruling party to stop dragging my name into every issue as if it's your default setting for when you get caught on the wrong foot!
Please stop defaming me baselessly and do your homework properly next time, Nirmala Ji."
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last week had said that the government will not give away ownership of assets under the national monetisation plan and they will be mandatorily handed back to the government.
Addressing the media, Sitharaman hit out at the opposition citing monetisation processes were also undertaken by the Congress-led UPA government.
Reminding the Congress party about the first Request for Participation (RFP) rolled out for the New Delhi Railway Station in 2008 during UPA-1, Sitharaman said, “Is it owned by Jijaji now?” – in an apparent reference to allegations of corruption against Rahul Gandhi’s brother-in-law Robert Vadra, reiterating again that there will be no change in the ownership of the assets under the monetisation scheme.
On being asked about Rahul Gandhi’s criticism that the government is selling ‘India’s crown jewels’, Sitharaman had said, “I wish the opposition questioned with some homework done. Who actually monetised the Mumbai-Pune corridor? Was it not the Congress Party headed by Sonia Gandhi? Rs 8,000 crore was raised from the project.”
The Centre plans to raise about Rs 6 lakh crore in the next four years from the National Asset Monetisation scheme and has listed out assets across sectors like railways, highways, gas pipeline and airports among others.
