The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state unit today waded into the National Herald case after the Enforcement Directorate charged senior Congress Party leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi and others with money laundering.
The financial crimes agency presented its findings in a Delhi court yesterday, accusing the Gandhis of forming a shell company to illegally acquire assets of the National Herald newspaper worth crores of rupees.
The Congress held protests around the country today, dubbing the charges the result of vendetta politics and intimidation by the central government.
BJP Meghalaya general secretary Wankitbok Pohshna revelled in the Congress’s problems, saying, “A party that often projects itself as the torchbearer of Gandhian values is now caught between the devil and the deep sea. You cannot fool the people of India with dharnas and condemnation speeches when your own top leadership is under the scanner of the law.”
When asked about the BJP’s alliance partners allegedly escaping scrutiny from the Enforcement Directorate, Pohshna responded, “The National Herald case didn’t emerge overnight. It began with a complaint and has followed due legal process since 2012. If there is wrongdoing anywhere – whether in our party or any other – the law will and should take its course. But in this case, the evidence is overwhelming and it’s time for the Congress to stop the cheap rhetoric.”
When it was put to him that Union Home Minister (and senior BJP leader) Amit Shah had called the Meghalaya government, run by BJP allies, the “most corrupt” before the 2023 state election, Pohshna, however, played them down.
