National Herald case ‘driven’ by PM office: Rahul Gandhi

On June 26 past year, the trial court issued summons to the Congress leaders on Swamy’s complaint about “cheating” in the acquisition of Associated Journals Ltd. (AJL), which ran the National Herald, by Young India Ltd. (YIL) – “a firm in which Sonia and Rahul Gandhi each own a 38 percent stake”.

He said Congress was committed to reviving and running National Herald, a newspaper established in 1938 by Jawaharlal Nehru.

“The Congress Party and its leadership, both Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, appear completely rattled under making very objectionable and also irresponsible observations, comments regarding the judiciary in this country”, he added. “We agreed to their demand of a debate in the house over Vasundhra Raje controversy”, he said.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has called a meeting of senior party leaders on Sunday evening to discuss its strategy on the goods and services tax (GST) bill, which has been stalled by political bickering.

Amidst continued disruptions in Parliament with Congress accusing the Modi government of resorting to “political vendetta”, Rahul asserted that not a single rupee can be taken out taken out from the not-for-profit organisation. Plus, with many states lending support to the GST bill, will other Opposition parties be open to the prospect of an entire session being washed out because of an issue that is primarily putting only two individuals on the backfoot.

“We have three issues (concerning the Bill) which need to be addressed”, he said.

He further escalated the attack on the BJP Government, saying they know who is actually threatening the judicial system of the nation. We will see at the end what comes out.

“Sonia and Rahul Gandhi do not have a separate law for themselves under the Constitution”, he said, adding, they should not hold Parliament to ransom for the summons. Speaking at a programme in the capital on December 10, Modi expressed sorrow at Parliament getting disrupted. In Rajya Sabha, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad accused the government of manipulating the Herald case.

Are the charges against the Gandhis politically motivated, and a retaliatory measure against the Congress accusations of corruption levelled at the BJP chief ministers of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh?

Sources said that the ministers were unanimous in seeking a robust counter to the campaign of Congress which has attributed political motive behind the case.

The magistrate, however, told the defence counsel to ensure that all the accused appear before the court on the next date of hearing on December 19.