Why is Rahul Gandhi mum on Robert Vadra's links with arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari: Gujarat CM

After media reports surfaced about Robert Vadra's alleged links with arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani on Tuesday questioned Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's silence on the issue.

Rupani hit out at the Congress leader while addressing a press conference in Gandhinagar, only days after Rahul had targetted PM Narendra Modi for not speaking up on the business transactions of BJP chief Amit Shaha's son Jay Shah.

"We want to ask Rahul Gandhi who will become party president as all state committees are passing a resolution in his favour. His relative Robert Wadra has links with an arms dealer. Vadra has taken favours from Sanjay Bhandari. Now Rahul Gandhi should comment on this", Rupani said.

It was suprising to see CM Rupani and Gujarat BJP chief Vaghani bring up this issue in poll-bound Gujarat when the party's central leadership had already spoken about the matter.

"Whenever there were corruption charges against our ministers or leaders, we initiated an inquiry against them. We have always taken stern action against our ministers. What has the BJP done? Instead of taking action against their own people, they are shielding them", said Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil.

"The news reports showed evidence to establish that arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, who was also involved in money laundering, bought air tickets for Vadra. Why did an arms dealer buy tickets for Vadra? Some emails also suggested that Vadra and Bhandari used to operate a firm between 2009 and 2014", Rupani said. "This is a clear case of crony capitalism, where people misuse their power for financial benefits. Vadra is the face of such crony capitalism", the Gujarat chief minister added.

SITHARAMAN ALSO SLAMS SONIA, RAHUL

Meanwhile, earlier on Tuesday, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also hit out at Sonia and Rahul Gandhi for keeping mum on the matter, adding that the "studied silence" would of the duo would be construed as acceptance of the charges against Robert Vadra.

Citing a media report, Sitharaman alleged that a London house linked to Vadra was refurbished by Bhandari, who also made arrangements for his travel abroad.

She also claimed that an amount of 7.5 lakh Swiss franc was deposited in a bank account of Bhandari and asked whether there was a connection between this and the money spent on refurbishing the London house linked to Vadra.

The minister, citing the media report, alleged that there were at least three transactions between them with "serious financial implications".

When Sitharaman was asked what the CBI was doing as it was investigating Bhandari, she said that question should be put to the agency.

"The government is taking all steps to bring the absconding arms dealer back to India to face law", she added.

BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said, "If you believe that Robert Vadra is innocent, why not file a defamation suit? The silence shows guilt."

Neither Robert Vadra nor the Congress has reacted to the matter.

(WITH INPUTS FROM PTI)

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