Rahul made sweetheart deals with the dishonest: Arun Jaitley

NEW DELHI: Finance minister Arun Jaitley attacked Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday for what he called sweetheart deals with fly-by-night operators that included receiving inflated rent payments, saying he must remember to explain his affairs before levelling allegations.

Reacting to a media report of a farm house owned by Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, which was rented out to what he called tainted businessmen, Jaitley said people in glass houses should not throw stones.

"An expose by media organisations revealed that the family owned a farm house in south Delhi which is now owned by the brother and sister of current generation of the family. Periodically tenancies are created in favour of persons, many of whom needed help when UPA was in power. A capital creation programme was launched. Rentals are paid by obliging tenants in advance," Jaitley said.

The FM said for generations the family did not earn from any commercial ventures. They were in public service and most such people sacrifice careers and lead a decidedly frugal life. Most members of the Nehru-Gandhi family studied outside the country for the last four generations.

"All have led more than a comfortable life. They enjoyed vacations at multiple domestic and international locations," he wrote in a Facebook post.


Jaitley said amongst the tenants, the critical person was Jignesh Shah of FTIL and the real estate developer Unitech's Sanjay Chandra. "Who else would enter into such a 'sweetheart deals' except the 'fly-by-night' operators who needed state patronage?" he asked.

He said the UPA did not amalgamate two companies of Jignesh Shah including one which allegedly duped thousands of investors.

Investors insisted the central government amalgamate the firms so that their money is recovered but till 2014, the UPA government did not take any action.

Jaitley said it is only when the Modi government was formed that the department of company affairs passed the amalgamation order upheld by the Bombay high court and is now pending before the Supreme Court.

"If the government succeeds, the duped investors will get their investment back. You needed a 'chowkidar' to catch a 'chor'," he said.

"With regard to Unitech, the less said the better. Besides the 2G involvement at the time the favours were shown, many flat buyers had been duped, their monies siphoned off and banks not paid back. The promoters, including one with whom Rahul Gandhi signed the arrangement, is still in prison. Under the 'sweetheart deal' out of the instalments paid, most have been repaid back under the 'assured income scheme'," Jaitley said.

"It was no rocket science for him to know who were conferring him with largesse. He aspires to be a prime minister. Such aspirants like Caesar's wife must be beyond suspicion. They must be unsuspectable. With tainted hands, he must at least remember that 'people in glass houses do not throw stones," Jaitley said.