By IANS,
New Delhi : A war of words broke out between the BJP and Congress Tuesday over the transfer of a Haryana official probing a land deal between Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra and realty major DLF.
The Bharatiya Janata Party slammed the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government for shunting out IAS officer Ashok Khemka and demanded an impartial probe.
“The Congress is in complete shamble and doldrums, they do not know what to do next,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.
“What is needed is an impartial probe. One officer with integrity has decided to take suo motu action… Instead of acting on his direction, the government acted against him and transferred him, that too by sending orders at 10 p.m. This is nothing but Emergency mindset,” he said.
The Congress said it was the prerogative of the state government to transfer officials.
“Transfers and postings of bureaucrats is the prerogative of the state government. The chief secretary would clarify,” Congress general secretary in charge of Haryana B.K. Hari Prasad told IANS.
Kejriwal attacked Hooda and said an “honest officer” had been transferred for exposing the DLF-Vadra land deal.
Khemka was shunted out Oct 11 as director general of Land Consolidation and Land Records-cum-inspector general of Registration after he initiated a probe into the land deals between Vadra’s companies and DLF.
On Monday, his last day in office, Khemka cancelled the mutation of a key plot, spelling more trouble for DLF.
Hooda denied his government was favouring anyone in any land deal and asked Chief Secretary P.K. Chaudhery “to examine assertions made by Khemka”.
Khemka said he had seen over 40 transfers in 21 years of service in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).