Prakash Javadekar slams Jyotiraditya Scindia over trust's land deal

SHIVPURI: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar took potshots at Congress chief whip in the Lok Sabha Jyotiraditya Scindia today and alleged that two acres of land belonging to the Jyotiraditya Scindia Charitable Trust was sold off unlawfully at Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh.

"Scindia should understand that people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones at others. Rajmata Scindia (Jyotiraditya's grandmother) made available two acres of land worth Rs 40 crore to Jyotiraditya Scindia Charitable Trust. This land has been sold off to businessmen for a meagre sum of Rs 94 lakh," Javadekar told a public meeting in the district which happens to be part of the Guna Lok Sabha seat, represented by Jyotiraditya.

"The land belonged to the trust, but no permission was taken from the trust before selling the land," Javadekar alleged.

The Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests said, "This was merely the trailer (of the movie) and much more will come out after all land-related papers are collected by BJP MLA Jaibhan Singh Pavvaiya. The land scam will be exposed soon."

"The Congress opposes the central government land acquisition bill, but never misses a chance to grab the land of farmers," he said.

He referred to his colleague Smriti Irani's allegation that land was acquired for set up Samrat Cycle Industries, 30 years ago in Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

"How come this land was transferred to the Rajiv Gandhi Trust? The land should have been returned to farmers if the cycle industry did not come up on it," he said.

The Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh is in the process of taking action on the land issue, Javadekar said.