The various allegations made against Mr Robert Vadra, the husband of Ms Priyanka Gandhi and the son-in-law of Mrs Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Congress, fall into two categories--criminal and ethical.
The criminal allegations relate to accumulation of wealth beyond his known sources of income.
The other allegations relating to the favours shown to him by the DLF in matters of loans, advances and under-estimation of property value would indicate, if established to be true, a pattern of unethical and not illegal conduct by Mr Vadra.
All these allegations, even if they remain allegations without proof, will have their political fall-out in influencing the perceptions of large sections of the people regarding Ms Priyanka Gandhi, Mrs Sonia Gandhi and the Congress.
The allegations have to be countered at the political, ethical and legal levels. The political counter has to come from Mrs Sonia Gandhi in her capacity as the Congress president and the authorised spokespersons of her party. The objective of the political counter would be to prevent Mrs Sonia Gandhi, Ms Priyanka Gandhi and the Congress from being tainted by the alleged wrong-doings of Mr Vadra and to convince the public that whatever Mr Vadra did was in his individual capacity and that the party, its president and daughter cannot be blamed for his actions.
For this purpose, it is quite legitimate for Mrs Sonia Gandhi to direct the spokespersons of her party to interact with the media and appear on TV channels to refute any allegations against the Congress, Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Ms Priyanka Gandhi.
The allegations of an ethical nature have to be countered by Mr Vadra and the DLF through their personal and institutional explanations to the public. The DLF has sought to do this to some extent, but Mr Vadra has avoided doing this and has sought to take a holier than thou attitude.