Bhupinder Singh Hooda must resign for illegal land denotification: BJP

NEW DELHI: BJP has demanded the resignation of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for ‘illegal’ denotification and lease of land in Gurgaon to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust.

BJP President Nitin Gadkari, accused Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her son and party General Secretary Rahul and daughter Priyanka Vadra of leasing more than five acres of panchayat land in Haryana's Ullahawas village for a ‘paltry’ rent of Rs 3 lakh per annum and said Hooda violated every provision in the rule book.

“All laws were set aside by the Hooda government to give this land worth Rs 50 crore on lease to the Gandhi family. The land was denotified before it was leased to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and daughter Priyanka. Why this double standards of the Gandhi family,” Gadkari asked.

The land, which belonged to the panchayat, was reportedly alloted to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust and HR Sachdeva, a dentist alleged to be close to the Gandhi family. “If Yeddyurappa had to resign due to denotification of a land, the Hooda government should also resign for denotifying this property,” Gadkari said.

He insisted that his party will appeal to the Punjab and Haryana High Court that all aspects of the deal should be investigated by a Special Investigation Team. He also demanded that a retired judge conduct a probe into all land acquired by the Hooda government during its tenure.