UP govt body finds no merit in Smriti's land grab charge on the Gandhis

QUICK PILL

The allegation

• Smriti Irani said Gandhi family trust wrongly bought land from Samrat Bicycle
• Company got 65 acres from UPSIDC in the \'80s for bicycle factory
• The project never took off

The reality

• UP State Industrial Development Corp says the land is still with bicycle company
• There\'s nothing wrong if the company transfers it to anybody
• The land need not be returned to UPSIDC

Was Smriti Irani off the mark when she accused the Nehru-Gandhi family of land grabbing?

Seems so, going by the response of the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC), which originally owned the 65-acre land in question.

On Sunday, the Union Human Resource Development minister alleged that the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust, controlled by the Gandhis, had fraudulently bought a piece of land in Gauriganj, a town in Amethi.

However, UPSIDC Managing Director Manoj Singh told Catch that the land has not been transferred to any trust. And there was nothing wrong even if it was.

A company that has got land from UPSIDC can transfer it to another by informing the corporation and paying a fee, Singh said. The land need not necessarily be returned to UPSIDC.

At a rally in Amethi, Irani had alleged that Samrat Bicycle, which owns the land, auctioned it off to the trust for Rs 20.10 crore.

The UPSIDC had acquired the land in Gauriganj from farmers and given it to the company to set up a bicycle factory. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi laid the foundation stone for the project on 24 May, 1984. But it never took off.

Gauriganj is an assembly segment in Amethi, the Parliamentary seat that has been the pocket borough of the Gandhis. Irani lost from there to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi in last year's general elections.

The minister may have tried to connect with the constituency for the long term, but her allegations seem to have backfired: About 500 people sat in protest against her allegation in front of the incomplete factory on Monday.

"We have not been wronged. We got due compensation for our land," said Roshan Lal, one of the protestors. " Smriti Irani and the BJP are levelling baseless allegations."

"She is trying to mislead the people here after losing the elections," said Gyan Singh, who was among those whose land was acquired by UPSIDC.

The BJP, however, said the protests were stage managed by the Congress. Ram Kishen Tewari, the party's district president, said: "The trust has bought the land. Gradually, it will be transferred to its name."

UPSIDC's Singh, however, maintained that the bicycle company continued to hold the land, according to the corporation's records. "We have not received any application from either party for transfer of the piece of land."