New Delhi: The Congress party on Tuesday stepped up attack on Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje over Dholpur Palace issue, producing more documents to back its claim.
Addressing a press conference in the national capital, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged that Raje and her son Dushyant Singh had converted Dholpur Palace, which is a government property, to a private one.
Producing documents dating back to 1949, Ramesh said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should wake up from his 'Kumbhakaran' sleep and bring a closure by calling for Raje's resignation.
"These documents conclusively prove that Dholpur Palace belong to the government of Rajasthan," said Ramesh, adding that the Rajasthan unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had reacted in a "lame duck" manner on the issue.
Accusing the Rajasthan Chief Minister and his son of illegally occupying government property, Ramesh said, "This is double whammy for exchequer. Firstly, 'State land' is illegally occupied and a high-end luxury hotel is built, and secondly, the state is duped even of the compensation for the land. Criminality is, thus, writ large."
The Congress further alleged that Dushyant Singh had taken Rs 2 crore compensation for Dholpur palace from NHAI despite it being a government property.
Hitting out at the government and the BJP, Ramesh said that despite "overwhelming evidence", the ruling party and its minister tried to "justify ownership".
Ramesh had on Monday claimed that Hemant Singh, estranged husband of Raje, had admitted before a court that the palace was the property of the Rajasthan government.
He told reporters that several revenue department documents between 1954 and 2010 showed that the palace was a government property but Raje and Lalit Modi's company Niyant Heritage Hotels turned it into a "high end luxury hotel" and invested Rs 100 crore with no role of the state government.
Ramesh had said that Raje in her 2013 assembly poll affidavit had admitted having shares of the Niyant Heritage Hotels Pvt Ltd along with her MP son Dushyant Singh and daughter-in-law Niharika, and Lalit Modi.
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