Ambika Soni dares Arvind Kejriwal to give proof of charges against Robert Vadra

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni accused news channels of helping civil society activist Arvind Kejriwal to malign the image of people by airing his "unsubstantiated allegations of wrong-doings".

"Kejriwal has floated a political party and wants to contest the elections in Delhi. To boost his image, he is levelling allegations without any proof and you (TV channels) are helping him by airing these allegations," she told reporters in New Delhi.

Soni said if Kejriwal has any proof of any wrong-doing by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra, he should submit it to the concerned authorities for investigation.

"In public life, we have to be careful. We cannot level allegations without proof. If an accusing finger is pointed towards someone the other three are pointing towards oneself," she said.

Asked if the government was ready for a CBI probe into the allegations that Vadra had got huge benefits from realty major DLF, Soni said she was not competent to order such a probe.

"Who am I?" she posed. She said the transactions of the DLF and businessmen like Vadra were open to scrutiny as they regularly file income tax and wealth returns.

Reacting to Kejriwal expressing doubts over Income Tax department being effective in probing the allegations against Vadra, she said, "If the department can conduct raids across the country why not inquire into these allegations? Why does he not give proof?"  

Allegations against Robert Vadra baseless: Rashid Alvi

The Congress has termed the allegations against the party President Mrs Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra as baseless and un-substantiated. Talking to reporters, party spokesperson Rashid Alvi said, the charges of social activists Arvind Kejrival and Prashant Bhusan against Mr. Vadra are politically motivated. He was reacting to the allegations made by the activists at a joint press conference in New Delhi that Vadra had bought property worth crores of rupees between 2007 and 2010 with an unsecured interest free loan of 65 crore rupees given by DLF. BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad has demanded an inquiry into the allegations. Meanwhile, DLF has clarified that the business dealings with Robert Vadra were completely transparent.