National Herald case is Centre-sponsored political vendetta, says AICC gen secy Dasmunshi

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 21 (PTI) AICC general secretary Deepa Dasmunshi on Monday stated that the Enforcement Directorate's chargesheet naming former Congress chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case is a Centre-sponsored "political vendetta".

Addressing a press conference here, Dasmunshi alleged that the BJP, its union ministers and its social media wings are trying to malign the image of Congress leaders by terming them as 'money launderers'.

She claimed that not a single rupee has been transacted, and there is no basis for the allegation of money laundering.

"Allegations of money laundering are being raised, even though not a single rupee was transferred from Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the company that managed the National Herald newspaper to Young Indian, a non-profit organisation formed to extend a loan to the National Herald newspaper which was struggling due to financial losses," she said.

"The Congress had stepped in to revive it using funds collected from party workers through cheques as it was a symbol of national pride which had to be preserved," she added.

"If there is any money laundering, we are ready to face it. For 11 years, they kept this case open by the ED," she said.

Dasmunshi, who is also in charge of the Kerala party affairs, alleged that the BJP government is attempting to divert the present situation to what the country is facing on unemployment, falling GDP, economic crisis, social disorders and the foreign policy challenges that are coming from the US, China and Bangladesh.

A fake narrative is set to deviate from these issues, she added.

Responding to a query that the grand old party is taking a double stand on similar actions by Central agencies against opposition parties, including the Serious Fraud Investigation Organisation (SFIO) case against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter, Dasmunshi said that any stand on such actions can be taken only based on the merit of the case.

Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan, who was also present, said the SFIO case against Vijayan’s daughter cannot be called politically motivated. PTI ARM ARM KH

Source: PTI