Modi govt pro-builder: Rahul

After raising farmers' issues, Congress vice-president slams NDA govt over real estate Bill

Firing yet another salvo at the Narendra Modi government, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday claimed it had diluted provisions of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority Bill, making the legislation pro-builder from being pro-buyer.

After meeting several flat buyers in the National Capital Region (NCR), Rahul, who has been attacking the Centre over land Bill issue and the plight of farmers, said he had learnt that it is not just farmers and tribals but also the middle class people that are “suppressed” on matters related to land.

Assuring homebuyers that he would stand by them, Gandhi said it was due to lack of transparency, the buyers were left in a quandary.

“They are told that you will get the flat on a particular day but for years they don’t get the flat. They are told the super duper area of the flat would be so much but what is delivered is different,” he said.

He said that someone was promised that the flat will have a good view, but a few months after the flat was delivered, another building came up and the view was blocked.

He said the government was trying to destroy the Bill which Congress-led United Progressive Alliance had brought to regulate the real estate sector.

“Main dilution is that there was clear transparency. The carpet area that you sign is what would be given. They have diluted and from pro-buyer, made it pro-builder," he said. Attacking the government, he said, “What it is doing against farmers and tribals, it is also doing against the middle class.” “I have assured them that the way I stand with farmers and tribals I stand with them also,” he told reporters.

Saloni Paroothi, one of the homebuyers who had met Gandhi, said she had booked a flat in Noida but the possession was now delayed by several years. Explaining her problem, Paroothi said she not only had to ensure payment of EMI, but also the rent of the house where she was living.

"The builder is neither paying any penalty, nor is he listening to us," she said. Other people who also had booked flats said that they were under tremendous pressure as they had put in their hard earned money in projects which were delayed for several years.