An audio tape released by BJP lawmaker Nalin Kotadia of his telephonic conversation with Gujarat BJP treasurer Surendra Patel regarding a controversial land parcel deal has rocked the State BJP government. Mr. Patel is heard telling the lawmaker that the “Chief Minister got the clearance” for the land deal to benefit a city-based builder.
The audio tape was released after Mr. Kotadia was booked on a complaint from builder and realtor Madhu Vasani that the MLA demanded Rs. 2 crore from him. The case has been handed over to the city Crime Branch.
In his conversation with the party treasurer Mr. Patel, Mr. Kotadia asks him if he was behind the clearance for the land deal. Mr. Patel, himself a prominent realtor and ex-chairman of the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA), replies that “it was cleared at the level of the Chief Minister at the instance of one Naresh Patel (a leading Patel community leader from Rajkot).”
Mr. Patel asks the MLA to discuss the matter with him in person, and not on the phone, when he insists on knowing how the clearance was obtained by the builder. Mr. Vasani, incidentally, is related to Mr. Kotadia.
In another audio clip between Mr. Kotadia and Mr. Vasani, the builder says he paid a Rs 4 crore donation to the BJP for getting the clearance. “Let’s meet and discuss the issue. We cannot talk about this on the phone,” the realtor is heard telling Mr. Kotadia. State BJP leaders refused to talk about the issue. “I will not comment,” Mr. Patel told The Hindu .
In a press statement, State BJP spokesman Bharat Pandya refuted charges of corruption and said the matter was between the builder and the MLA. “The BJP has nothing to do with the personal matter between the MLA and the builder,” he said.
