BJP doubles down on Priyanka Gandhi over alleged misleading info in poll affidavit
Rejecting the BJP’s allegations, Priyanka Gandhi’s husband Robert Vadra said in a statement that he hadn’t done anything wrong and that he was ready to face any agency
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday doubled down on the Congress over party leader Priyanka Gandhi’s alleged misrepresentation of the declared asset in the affidavit submitted during nomination filing for the Wayanad bye-election- a claim the Congress has rejected.
BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia alleged that Priyanka Gandhi’s husband Robert Vadra holds ownership in companies more than the disclosed number in the nomination document.
“It would not be wrong to call them Bunty and Bubbly (referring to Priyanka Gandhi and Robert Vadra) who arrived to practise false politics. The issue we raised regarding the non-disclosure of assets shares and two LLPs where Robert Vadra is a partner in the affidavit filed raises a very serious question,” Bhatia aid at a press conference in Delhi.
He mentioned a 2022 Income Tax Appellate Tribunal case which states Priyanka Gandhi holds 2,62,411 shares of the Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the company that publishes the National Herald newspaper, through Young Indian, which owns the newspaper. The tribunal’s order states the shares were bought through two trusts. The affidavit has no mention of the shareholdings.
Bhatia said someone who presents incorrect or false information in their affidavit while filing for nomination has no right to contest in elections, recalling penal statutes which mention that it is a crime to furnish misleading information under oath.
Rejecting the allegations, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said, “Priyanka Gandhi doesn’t own a single share of AJL, in fact never has.”
Earlier, the BJP questioned the election affidavit citing Robert Vadra’s declared assets worth ₹64 crore, saying it is lower than the demand raised by the Income Tax department, which was over ₹75 crore.
Priyanka Gandhi declared her assets to be over ₹12 crore, including a bungalow in Shimla worth ₹5.63 crore. Alleging the Congress of bending the rules to own a property in Himachal Pradesh, the BJP claimed that Priyanka’s Shimla house was quoted one-tenth of the market price.
Following the allegations, Vadra said in a statement that he hadn’t done anything wrong and that he was ready to face any agency. “Whenever they (BJP) want to divert attention from real issues, my name crops up and they start talking about me. People know the truth. I have not done anything wrong, and I am ready to face any agency.”