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Informist, Wednesday, Apr. 16, 2025

NEW DELHI – The opposition Indian National Congress Wednesday once again slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing them of launching a "political vendetta" against the party's leadership after the Enforcement Directorate filed a charge sheet against former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case.

Criticising the action, senior Congress leaders and Rajya Sabha members Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Jairam Ramesh called it an attempt to divert attention from pressing issues such as the economic situation in the country, the impact of US tariffs on the economy, and continuing conflicts with China and Bangladesh.

Addressing the media at the party headquarters, Singhvi said a "fake narrative" was being created to suggest money had been laundered. He asserted that there is no evidence of any crime. "How did this happen?" the top lawyer said. "Associated Journals Ltd. is the oldest company, yet it didn't achieve success. Over the years, Congress provided the company with loans totalling INR 900 million. To make the company debt-free, a new company, Young Indian, was established under the rules. The INR 900 million debt was transferred to Young Indian, and it was converted into shares. This is what transpired."

Young Indian, Singhvi explained, was created under the section for not-for-profit charitable companies. "It has no perks, no salary, no property purchased or sold, and no transactions conducted," he said. "The (ownership of) property remains unchanged. Where is the money trail? This is a mockery of the law, nothing more than a political vendetta."

Earlier, Congress workers staged protests in Delhi and other parts of the country against the enforcement agency's action. The directorate has filed charges against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, overseas Congress chief Sam Pitroda, the late Motilal Vohra, a former party treasurer, the late Oscar Fernandes, former party general secretary, Suman Dubey, and Young Indian.

The case arose from allegations of financial irregularity and misappropriation of funds pertaining to Young Indian Pvt. Ltd.'s acquisition of the Congress-controlled Associated Journals Ltd. Former Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian Subramanian Swamy had filed the original complaint alleging that Young Indian had taken over the assets of Associated Journals in a "malicious" bid to acquire properties worth more than INR 20 billion.

Associated Journals publishes National Herald, which is now owned by Young Indian. The Gandhis are majority shareholders of Young Indian, with Sonia and Rahul each holding 38% stake.  End

Reported by Kuldeep Singh

Edited by Rajeev Pai

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