The Congress party has accused Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje of “forcible, illegal occupation” of the Dholpur Palace, along with Lalit Modi through a private company, keeping up the heat after recent allegations.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh staked a claim that Hemant Singh, Vasundhara Raje’s estranged husband, had admitted before a court that the Dholpur Palace was the property of the Rajasthan government.
Several revenue department documents between 1954 and 2010 showed that the palace was a government property, Ramesh told reporters. But Raje and Lalit Modi’s company Niyant Heritage Hotels turned it into a “high end luxury hotel” and has invested about Rs 100 crore, without intimating the state government.
Ramesh said that this happened post 2009 when the Congress was in power in Rajasthan and Ashok Gehlot was the chief minister.
He further said that in her 2013 assembly poll affidavit, Raje admitted to having shares of the Niyant Heritage Hotels Pvt Ltd, along with her MP son Dushyant Singh and daughter-in-law Niharika, and Lalit Modi.
The election affidavit reflects that she owns 3280 shares, her son and daughter-in-law about 3225 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.
— Jairam Ramesh, Congress Leader
Ramesh further noted that this proved her business partnership with Modi, who is now a “fugitive”. He also alleged that Lalit Modi had used the “Mauritius route” to invest in the company.
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ramesh described him as “Swami Maunendra Baba” for his continued silence over the issue.
(With inputs from the PTI)
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