Sonia and Rahul Gandhi Face Criminal Conspiracy Charges in National Herald Case: BJP and Congress Exchange Accusations

Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi (File).

New Delhi:

The winter session of Parliament began with the expected confrontation between government and opposition, leading to an early adjournment amid chaos. Outside Parliament, the BJP and Congress engaged in a heated exchange over the National Herald case, where Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have been charged with criminal conspiracy in a money laundering investigation.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi criticized the BJP for creating a case "out of its own twisted mind," describing the charges as the "BJP's recycled obsession." In response, BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh claimed the Congress "is in a state of panic, frustration, and outcry" regarding these allegations.

"This is a bizarre situation. No crime, no cash, no trail to find... yet the BJP conjures up a case of its own twisted mind. If justice is blind, then the ED is color blind... it sees only one color," stated Singhvi, implying that federal agencies like the Enforcement Directorate selectively target opposition leaders at the government's direction—claims the BJP consistently denies.

Singhvi, a Supreme Court senior advocate, continued: "This is a case with no movement of money or immovable property. Yet the ED, in its imagination, sees 'money laundering'. Today, fiction has found a uniform. If vendetta were a syllabus, the BJP would graduate with honors. This is not the National Herald case. This is the National Harassment case."

Congress allies, including Priyanka Chaturvedi from Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena faction, defended the party, describing the charges as "a political witch hunt... a tool the BJP applies time to time to attack opposition voices. Shame that agencies continue to bend backwards to please political masters."

BJP leaders, including Chugh, responded by accusing the Congress of extensive corruption: "Congress under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi is in a state of panic, frustration, and outcry over National Herald. This is unfortunate. Freedom fighters' money was openly looted... corruption has been done..."

The BJP's official social media account posted a video highlighting the allegations against the opposition leaders, noting that no court has yet ruled in their favor. "A scandal that refuses to die..." the post declared, claiming "The ED attached assets of AJL and Young Indian... exposing how a public institution built by freedom fighters was turned into a private real-estate empire."

The charges were filed on Sunday in a fresh First Information Report against six individuals, including the Gandhi leaders, by Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing.

The National Herald, founded by Jawaharlal Nehru and others in 1938, was a newspaper owned by Associated Journals Limited (AJL). The publication ceased operations in 2008 with debts of Rs 90.21 crore but retained substantial real estate assets initially valued at approximately Rs 2,000 crore, now allegedly worth Rs 5,000 crore according to the ED.

The case originated in November 2012 when BJP's Subramanian Swamy filed a private complaint alleging that Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and other Congress leaders fraudulently acquired AJL, claiming they took over properties worth Rs 2,000 crore for merely Rs 50 lakh. These properties include Delhi's Herald House and assets in Mumbai's Bandra, reportedly valued at a combined Rs 661 crore.

Additional allegations suggest AJL misused these government-allocated properties—intended solely for newspaper operations—for commercial purposes, generating rental income. The ED has claimed these "proceeds of crime" amount to Rs 998 crore.