Congress: Vasundhara Raje illegally occupying palace

The Congress on Monday accused Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje of “forcible illegal occupation” of Dholpur Palace along with Mr Lalit Modi through a private company.

Senior party leader and former Union minister Jairam Ramesh claimed that Hemant Singh, the estranged husband of Ms Raje, had admitted before a court that the palace was the property of the Rajasthan government.

He told reporters that several revenue department documents between 1954 and 2010 showed that the palace was government property but Ms Raje and Mr Lalit Modi’s company had turned it into a “high-end luxury hotel” and invested `100 crore with no role of the state government.

Ms Raje and her family, as also Mr Lalit Modi, have constructed the hotel on property and land owned by the Rajasthan government. They have invested a huge amount in the property, running into crores of rupees, he told reporters.

Incidentally, this happened post-2009, when the state was ruled by the Congress.

Mr Ramesh said Ms Raje, in her 2013 Assembly poll affidavit, had admitted having shares in Niyant Heritage Hotel Pvt. Ltd along with her MP son, Mr Dushyant Singh, and daughter-in-law Niharika, and Mr Lalit Modi.

“The election affidavit reflects that she owns 3,280 shares, her son and daughter-in-law about 3,225 shares each, and Lalit Modi’s company Ananda Heritage Hotels Pvt. Ltd 815 shares, establishing the financial relationship, partnership and investment of overseas money from a tax haven,” he said.

He said it proved her business partnership with the former IPL chief, who is now a “fugitive”.

Mr Ramesh alleged that Mr Lalit Modi had used the “Mauritius route” to invest in the company. He also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, describing him as “Swami Maunendra Baba” for his continued silence on the Lalitgate issue.

The Congress has been demanding the resignations of external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Ms Raje over Lalitgate, of HRD minister Smriti Irani over misrepresenting facts about her educational qualification in separate election affidavits, and of Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde for her alleged involvement in a “scam” by clearing purchases worth `206 crore on a single day instead of inviting tenders, a violation of norms.