Businessman Robert Vadra who is the brother-in-law of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has alleged that FIR that was filed against him in connection with the Gurugram land deal case, is an attempt by the BJP government to divert public attention from issues like rising oil prices and others. Speaking to news agency ANI, Vadra said that elections are just a few months away, therefore the government is resorting to a ‘diversionary tactic’.

Calling it a ‘decade-old issue’, Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Vadra, said: “Election season, increase in oil prices…so let’s divert real people’s issues with my decade-old issue. What’s new?”

On Saturday, police booked Vadra, former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and others in a land scam in Gurugram, Manesar Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajesh Kumar told PTI. The case was registered on the complaint of Surender Sharma, a resident of Tauru. Sharma alleged that a company belonging to Vadra’s Skylight Hospitality cheated him along with others.

The case was registered at the Kherki Daula Police Station under Sections of 420(cheating), 120 (hatching conspiracy) and 467, 468, 471(forgery) under the IPC.

“We received a complaint today from one Surinder Sharma, a resident of Nuh, in which he alleged irregularities in the land deals,” Rajesh Kumar said.

The BJP government in Haryana had in 2015 set up a commission to examine the licences given by the erstwhile Hooda-led Congress government for the development of housing colonies and commercial complexes in four Gurgaon (now Gurugram) villages. The BJP had made the land deals involving Vadra during Congress regime a major poll issue in Lok Sabha and Haryana Assembly polls.