Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Wednesday was summoned for questioning by a government panel investigating land deals in the state during his regime. PTI reported that the Justice SN Dhingra Commission of Inquiry asked Hooda to appear before it on March 23. "This is a politically motivated move. Everyone knows who the main target is. Who appoints a panel to investigate a land deal in small village?" Hooda said, according to NDTV.

The former CM is accused of facilitating illegal land allotments to Robert Vadra, who is married to Priyanka Gandhi, the daughter Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Hooda was in charge of the Department of Town and Country Planning in 2008, when it allotted a licence for the commercial use of a plot of land in Gurgaon to Vadra's company Skylight Hospitality for Rs 7 crore. Skylight Hospitality sold the land to real estate major DLF for Rs 58 crore just months later.

Last month, the panel summoned Haryana chief secretary Deepinder Singh Dhesi to record a statement. The commission has already examined Chattar Singh, a retired IAS officer and member of the Union Public Service Commission, who was the principal secretary in Hooda's office. The commission is yet to record Vadra's statement in the case.