Ever since it became public that disgraced Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor had bought a painting from Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, various BJP leaders have been taking potshots at the grand old party. Taking a swipe, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said wherever there was corruption, there had to be the Congress party. "What MF Hussain was to the world of painting, the Congress is to the corruption. If corruption is an art, the Congress is its artist," he said.
However, there is yet another connection, which could be more significant than Priyanka's deal. Rana Kapoor, currently under arrest, is apparently a tenant of Jyotiraditya Scindia, the man of the moment in Indian politics. Kapoor has rented an apartment in the swanky Samudra Mahal, an erstwhile palace of the royal family of Gwalior. The family sold most of the palace in the early 1960s.
According to the Mumbai Mirror, the Scindias, who currently own a duplex plus a terrace in the A wing of the mahal, have rented it out to Kapoor. The Enforcement Directorate raided the same Samudra Mahal apartment on Saturday.
Samudra Mahal comprises two highrises of 27 storeys each in Mumbai's most coveted and posh Worli area. The property, which consisting of three BHKS, duplexes and triplexes and a bungalow, commands a price in the range of Rs 1.1 to Rs 1.2 lakh per sq foot.
Apart from Kapoor, Samudra Mahal is also home to a number of famous names such as Infosys co-founders Nandan Nilekani, N.R. Narayana Murthy, Vedanta group's Prateek Agarwal, Motilal Oswal Financial Services's Raamdeo Agrawal, and top executives of Tata Motors, Tata Steel, ITC and L&T. Diamantaire and PNB scam accused Nirav Modi and tainted tycoon Vijay Mallya were also residents of Samudra Mahal. Both Modi and Mallya are facing extradition trial in the UK.
Scindia, who resigned from the Congress on Tuesday over grouses on his role in the party, joined the BJP a day later, in the presence of J.P. Nadda. Scindia jumping ship couldn't have been timed better. Following the RBI moratorium on Yes Bank on Thursday, the ED raid eventually led to Kapoor's arrest in the early hours of Sunday. The trouble in Madhya Pradesh government became public on Monday, followed by Scindia's resignation a day later.
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The BJP, which made a hue and cry of Priyanka's sale of an M.F. Hussain painting to Kapoor for Rs 2 crore, seems to have ignored the Scindia-Kapoor link. Instead, the saffron party has welcomed Scindia with open hands. Reportedly, he will be rewarded with the Rajya Sabha seat from Madhya Pradesh and a cabinet berth.
The Congress, on its part, has said the deal between Priyanka and Kapoor was transparent as payment of Rs 2 crore was received by Vadra from Kapoor through cheque and was reflected in her Income Tax returns. Meanwhile, the ED is probing if the painting was owned by her or the All India Congress Committee (AICC).
