New Delhi: Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy yesterday alleged wrongdoing by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi leading to the takeover of Herald House here. The Congress dismissed the charges while Rahul Gandhi’s office threatened legal action.
Swamy said a company allegedly floated by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had done a “sham and bogus” deal to “grab the Rs16bn worth Herald House” and other properties of the group and demanded a CBI probe.
The Congress was dismissive of the allegations and referred to Swamy as an “ajube” (strange character). A much more strong denial came from Rahul Gandhi which said the allegations were “baseless and defamatory” and that legal action would be taken for the “scandalous abuse”.
“The allegations made by you are utterly false, entirely baseless and defamatory,” said a letter to Swamy. “We are committed to pursuing legal action.”
Swamy told the media that the two Gandhis floated a company called Young Indian in which each had 38 percent stake.
Young Indian, he said, acquired Associated Journals Pvt Ltd (APPL) and became owner of the National Herald and Quami Awaz and all high value real estate property in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh belonging to the group.
“Rahul Gandhi was already a shareholder in APJ Private Ltd in 2008 but failed to disclose this in his affidavit filed for the Lok Sabha elections in 2009,”
Swamy said. Swamy said AJPL obtained unsecured zero interest loan of over Rs900m from the All India Congress Committee (AICC). He termed the transaction illegal, saying a political party can’t give loans for commercial purposes. IANS
