On a day of claims and counter claims, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh told reporters in Delhi, “There has been a criminal nexus between Lalit Modi and the Vasundhara Raje family.”
Declaring that Congress will not stop disclosures till a “closure” is done by the BJP by removing Raje, Ramesh released some fresh documents including one of 1949 which showed that the Dholpur Palace was owned by the Rajasthan government. For the second consecutive day, Ramesh accused Raje and her family of “forcible, illegal occupation” of the Dholpur Palace along with Lalit Modi through a private company.
In Jaipur, BJP Rajasthan president Ashok Parnami showed documents, saying a court order of November 22, 1958 clearly proved that the Dholpur Palace was handed over to Hemant Singh and later to Dushyant Singh, son of Raje. The press meet saw heated exchanges between the media and the BJP leaders with one news channel correspondent repeatedly pressing <g data-gr-id="49" data-style="display: inline; color: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; -webkit-background-size: 0px 2px, 100% 2px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAA+gAAAACCAYAAADLlPadAAAABmJLR0QA/wD/AP+gvaeTAAAAK0lEQVRYhe3OMQEAIAwDsA6DHPh/ZoTJ2JMoSPW7PwAAAMCqsx0AAAAAkgHerQKHq3BtYQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==), url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAACCAYAAACZgbYnAAAABmJLR0QA/wD/AP+gvaeTAAAAEklEQVQImWP4vGvnfyYGBgYGABl4A2hm/SKhAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); background-size: 0px 2px, 100% 2px; background-position: 200% 100%, 0px 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat, no-repeat;">Parnami</g> to respond to questions from his boss over <g data-gr-id="56" data-style="display: inline; color: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; -webkit-background-size: 0px 2px, 100% 2px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAA+gAAAACCAYAAADLlPadAAAABmJLR0QA/wD/AP+gvaeTAAAAKklEQVRYhe3OQQEAIAgEsMM6xrMb9SQGny3B6vb7AQAAAFad7QAAAACQDAGHAlfrnYEmAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC), url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAACCAYAAACZgbYnAAAABmJLR0QA/wD/AP+gvaeTAAAAEklEQVQImWNY/ejYfyYGBgYGABiLA1VQQvxSAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); background-size: 0px 2px, 100% 2px; background-position: 200% 100%, 0px 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat, no-repeat;">telephone</g>. Asked by reporters to give copies of the documents he was flagging, Parnami said they could file an RTI and verify the documents presented by them and the Congress.
Parnami accused Ramesh of trying to create “confusion” over the Dholpur Palace issue. The BJP state president said following the court direction and the compromise Dushyant reached with Hemant Singh, his father and estranged husband of Raje, “physical possession” of the Dholpur Palace was taken by Dushyant.
Parnami contended that in at least five places in the court document, it has been clearly specified that Dushyant had the ownership rights of Dholpur Palace and had the full rights” to sell or lease out the movable and immovable properties in question. Ramesh said that the party has also not forgotten the case of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who had helped Lalit Modi with travel documents.
“We have not forgotten about the Videsh Mantri. Closure and disclosure in her case <g data-gr-id="39" data-style="display: inline; color: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; -webkit-background-size: 0px 2px, 100% 2px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAA+gAAAACCAYAAADLlPadAAAABmJLR0QA/wD/AP+gvaeTAAAAKklEQVRYhe3OQQEAIAgEsMM6xrMb9SQGny3B6vb7AQAAAFad7QAAAACQDAGHAlfrnYEmAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC), url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAACCAYAAACZgbYnAAAABmJLR0QA/wD/AP+gvaeTAAAAEklEQVQImWNY/ejYfyYGBgYGABiLA1VQQvxSAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); background-size: 0px 2px, 100% 2px; background-position: 200% 100%, 0px 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat, no-repeat;">is</g> yet to come”, he said. Taking a dig at Swaraj, he said, “Lalit Modi was helped on “humanitarian grounds, grounds like hanging out with Naomi Campbell”.
Insisting that the compromise between Hemant Singh and Dushyant was only for movable property, Ramesh claimed that despite much evidence produced by him, the BJP is trying to justify ownership of the property with Dushyant with “lame duck” arguments.
He said that the compromise was brought about in 2007 by the additional <g data-gr-id="35" data-style="display: inline; color: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; -webkit-background-size: 0px 2px, 100% 2px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAA+gAAAACCAYAAADLlPadAAAABmJLR0QA/wD/AP+gvaeTAAAAK0lEQVRYhe3OMQEAIAwDsA6DHPh/ZoTJ2JMoSPW7PwAAAMCqsx0AAAAAkgHerQKHq3BtYQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==), url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAACCAYAAACZgbYnAAAABmJLR0QA/wD/AP+gvaeTAAAAEklEQVQImWP4vGvnfyYGBgYGABl4A2hm/SKhAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); background-size: 0px 2px, 100% 2px; background-position: 200% 100%, 0px 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat, no-repeat;">dist</g> Judge of Bharatpur in a case titled ‘Dushyant vs. Hemant Singh’.
He alleged that despite the palace and the land surrounding belonging to Rajasthan government, Dushyant Singh received a compensation of nearly Rs 2 crore from the National Highways Authority
of India for a <g data-gr-id="83" data-style="display: inline; color: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; -webkit-background-size: 0px 2px, 100% 2px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAA+gAAAACCAYAAADLlPadAAAABmJLR0QA/wD/AP+gvaeTAAAAK0lEQVRYhe3OMQEAIAwDsA6DHPh/ZoTJ2JMoSPW7PwAAAMCqsx0AAAAAkgHerQKHq3BtYQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==), url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAACCAYAAACZgbYnAAAABmJLR0QA/wD/AP+gvaeTAAAAEklEQVQImWP4vGvnfyYGBgYGABl4A2hm/SKhAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); background-size: 0px 2px, 100% 2px; background-position: 200% 100%, 0px 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat, no-repeat;">500 metre</g> piece of land due to “nexus” between him and the Land Acquisition officer.
“He (Dushyant Singh) got a compensation of Rs 2 crore, and that is a scam which needs to be investigated”, he demanded. Ramesh said that government and BJP are making in vain attempts to disprove the “unholy nexus” between Raje and Lalit Modi, their co-ownership of <g data-gr-id="59" data-style="display: inline; color: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; -webkit-background-size: 0px 2px, 100% 2px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAA+gAAAACCAYAAADLlPadAAAABmJLR0QA/wD/AP+gvaeTAAAAK0lEQVRYhe3OMQEAIAwDsA6DHPh/ZoTJ2JMoSPW7PwAAAMCqsx0AAAAAkgHerQKHq3BtYQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==), url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAACCAYAAACZgbYnAAAABmJLR0QA/wD/AP+gvaeTAAAAEklEQVQImWP4vGvnfyYGBgYGABl4A2hm/SKhAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); background-size: 0px 2px, 100% 2px; background-position: 200% 100%, 0px 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat, no-repeat;">Niyant</g> Heritage Hotel Pvt LTD and “ patent illegal usurpation” of a government property for construction of a high end luxury hotel.
Seeking to debunk BJP’s claims that Dushyant owned the Dholpur Palace, Ramesh said that the list of property of the Dholpur state at the time of its accession to India was a “clincher” on ownership of the Dholpur palace as it clearly showed that it belonged to the state government.