New Delhi: The Congress party on Monday accused Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje of having “direct financial dealings” with former IPL chief Lalit Modi.
A company owned by them was managing a public property as a private property in the state, said Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.
“Niyant Private Limited, owned by Raje, her son Dushyant Singh, daughter-in-law Niharaika Singh and Lalit Modi, has taken possession of a Rajasthan government property, converted it into a private high-end luxury hotel and invested over Rs.100 crore,” Ramesh told the media here.
“A joint venture company is running Niyant Heritage Private Properties Limited, which is running Dholpur Palace,” he said.
Showing documents of the Rajasthan government, Ramesh said these conclusively establish that Dholpur Palace was never a private property of the Dholpur royal family.
He said despite Dholpur City Palace being property of the government, Raje and Lalit Modi proceeded to convert it into a high-end private luxury hotel.
“We sadly have to state that Vasundhara Raje’s husband in 1980 made a statement saying Dholpur Palace belongs to the government,” Ramesh said.
He accused Raje and Lalit Modi of converting government property into personal assets. “Even Vasundhara Raje herself had admitted this fact that Dholpur property was owned by the government of Rajasthan”.
“First thing which has been established is that she and fugitive Lalit Modi are business partners. Second fact which has been established is that Lalit Modi got Rs.21 crore from Mauritius and invested (it) in Dushyant Singh’s (Raje’s son) company. And the third fact that has been established is that Vasundhara Raje signed a seven-page document for UK authorities to help him (Lalit Modi),” Ramesh said.
He also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, describing him as “Swami Maunendra Baba” for his continued silence over the Lalit Modi issue.
Besides Raje’s resignation, the Congress has also been demanding that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj quit for helping Lalit Modi get travel documents.