If corruption is art, artist has to be Congress party: Sambit Patra

If corruption is an art, then the artist has to be the Congress party, said BJP leader Sambit Patra on Tuesday while hitting out at Priyanka Gandhi for selling a painting to Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor.

"A truth through media has come to public as to how a painting was sold by Gandhi family, particularly by Priyanka Gandhi at an exorbitant amount to Yes Bank founder-chairman Rana Kapoor," said Patra.

"Wherever there is corruption, wherever there is a scam, there has to be a mention of the Congress party. Without the mention of the Congress, the story of scam or corruption can never be complete. If corruption is an art, the artist has to be the Congress party," added Patra while addressing a press conference here.

The BJP leader said that "what MF Hussain was to the world of painting, Congress is today for sure to the world of corruption."

Raising questions as to how painting for an "exorbitant" amount of Rs 2 crore was 'force sold' to Rana Kapoor, Patra said: "There are some important questions which we want to ask the Congress."

"The painting was gifted by MF Hussain in 1985, the centenary year of Congress, to then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The question is how does this gift by Hussain to the Prime Minister become a personal property of the Gandhis, particularly Priyanka Gandhi," he said.

Patra likened the entire episode to what he said was the "National Herald" module.

"The question to the Congress party today is -- since the painting was the property of AICC, how did Priyanka sell it as her personal property. People want to know that. This is almost akin to the National Herald module. At that time, mother-son was involved. Now, mother-daughter is involved. The whole family is a family, which is embroiled in gross corruption," he said.

"Will it be an exaggeration to say that since Priyanka Vadra has received the proceeds of crime in a scam, should she not be investigated is a question that we would like the Congress party to answer," he asked.

He further questioned if the income tax on the painting was paid and demanded if it was done, then its details be put forth before the public.

"Another big question that we want to know from the Gandhi family was the income tax paid on this painting. The income you generated from this painting, did you pay the tax on it. If you did, then put forth the details before the public. As far as we know, no income tax has been paid on it," he said.

The BJP leader, while referring to some media reports, claimed that Congress leader Milind Deora sent messages to 'Rana uncle' saying that attempts are being made to fix meeting with Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.

"The most important thing is that it is not just Priyanka Vadra, who is involved. The present president of Congress Sonia Gandhi was herself embroiled in all this is amply clear from the message that Rana Kapoor desperately wanted to meet both the mother and the daughter," he said.

"The question is why was this meeting sought in desperation and why was there desperation in the message that we have seen through media to demand this amount from Rana Kapoor. On seeing the message, it appears that painting was not sold or money was not being sought, this was almost an extortion of money," added Patra.

When asked about the senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia being "expelled" from the Congress, Patra took a jibe at Rahul Gandhi: "I can't understand how can you expel someone after he has already resigned. Only Rahul Gandhi can do such reverse engineering. Ask him."

It was reported on March 9 that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seized a painting bought by Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor from Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

A letter written by Gandhi to Kapoor in June 2010 confirmed the sale of the portrait of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi for Rs 2 crore.