New Delhi, Feb. 5: The Congress today sought the resignation of Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel to ensure a fair investigation into land deals that allegedly benefited her daughter Anar Patel.
It also dragged Prime Minister Narendra Modi into the controversy, asking him to “come clean” as the deal happened during his tenure as chief minister, and threatened to raise the matter in Parliament.
“We had been repeatedly told that Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion, here the king is involved. We want to know whether the principle of zero tolerance on corruption will be applicable to BJP leaders or not. The Prime Minister must come clean on this,” Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said.
Accusing the state government of giving away land worth Rs 125 crore for only Rs 1.5 crore to a firm that allegedly has links with Anar Patel, Sharma said: “Shocking revelations in the public domain make it abundantly clear that Modi as chief minister of Gujarat allowed nepotism, conflict of interest and brazen plunder of public land to promote business interests of entities closely connected to the daughter of then revenue minister and current chief minister Anandiben Patel.”
Sharma referred to a report on the controversy in The Economic Times today. “No agency of the government can probe the fraud. We demand a special investigation team monitored by the Supreme Court to fix responsibility. This is not all. We will expose deals involving two trusts in Gujarat in the coming days. The Prime Minister will have to answer questions.”
Sharma further added: “Allotment of 250 acres of government land next to Gir lion sanctuary without any valuation or price determination for a pittance was in gross violation of regulations governing allocation of public land in eco-sensitive zones. The same firm was then allowed to purchase agricultural land and the land use, too, was changed by the government for profiteering and commercial exploitation by the beneficiary.”
Sharma said that “in 2010, the Gujarat government allotted 250 acres of land in Amreli district to Wildwoods Resorts & Realties Private Ltd (WWR) at a price of Rs 15 per square metre”. Wildwoods’ promoters are allegedly business associates of Anar Patel.
“The total price of land came to only Rs 1.5 crore while the estimated market price was to the tune of Rs 125 crore. The original promoter of WWR was Sanjay Vajubhai Dhanak, who has a jewellery business in Dubai but no experience in setting up resorts,” Sharma said.
According to the Congress spokesperson, WWR then purchased 172 acres of adjoining agricultural land. “As non-farmers are not permitted to purchase agricultural land, WWR was granted special permission to purchase private agricultural land. Then, on 14.03.2011, the state government permitted conversion of agricultural land into non-agricultural purposes. Dakshesh R. Shah was Dhanak’s partner at the time of allotment. In 2011-12, Dhanak transferred WWR to Parshwa Texchem (India) Private Limited, owned by Shah, and Anil Infraplus Limited, owned by Amol Shripal Sheth,” Sharma said.
The Congress leader claimed, “Shah and Parshwa Texchem are business partners of Anar Patel”. “Shah owns 50 per cent stake in Anar Projects Ltd. He is the director of the company with Anar Patel. Shah’s Parshwa Texchem owns 50 per cent in WWR. Parshwa Texchem and Anar Patel jointly own Relish Pharmaceutical Limited. Shah and Anar Patel are also directors in ‘24x7 Fitness Private Limited’. Close relationship between Anar Patel, Shah and Amol Shripal Sheth (owner of Anil Infraplus) is well established.”
