The Congress party put up a strong defence by way of nationwide protests against the Enforcement Directorate filing chargesheet against Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.
Political posturing aside, most of the Congress leaders admit it in private that the transfer of ‘Associated Journals of India’ assets to a newly created entity, the ‘Young India’ was the most ill-advised decision on part of Sonia Gandhi in 2010, when she was the Congress president and the party was heading the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre.
Simply put, the ‘National Herald’ case is what till 2010 belonged to the Congress party as a whole, was transferred to a newly created company, which was closely controlled by Gandhi, her son and some of her close confidantes.
The process of the transfer of shares of the AJL to the ‘Young India’ was widely questioned. The total number of shareholders of the AJL was originally put at 1057 in 2011, but was later claimed to have come down to 761 only. Besides, questions were also raised about the way the general body meeting of the shareholders for the purpose of transfer of the AJL shares to Young India was held, as a number of shareholders alleged that they did not receive any information about the General Body Meeting.
The decision of the AJL to transfer the shares to ‘Young India’ was challenged by the BJP leader Subharmanian Swamy, who alleged and suggested that Gandhi and her son wanted to take control of the AJL assets worth thousands of crores of rupees spread across different cities in the country, including the iconic Herald House on the Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg in New Delhi.
Against over 1,000 shareholders of the AJL, while Congress claimed the number to be 761 only, Young India was a closely held company with just a few shareholders who included Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul Gandhi, the then party treasurer Moti Lal Vohra, senior party leader Oscar Fernandez, two close family friends Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey. It is being alleged and perceived that what originally belonged to and was owned by the entire Congress party, was now transferred to Gandhi and her son.
The ‘National Herald’ case is a representative example of what is happening in the Congress party that cannot look beyond the Gandhi family. What was the need for the party to literally “handover” the party’s assets to the Gandhi family? In any way the Gandhis already exercise unbridled control over the Congress party and by implication its assets.
Senior Congress leader and eminent lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi has tried to put up a brilliant defence in his own characteristic style. He claims that there is not even a whiff of crime. Moreover, he adds, ‘Young India’ company, apparently named after Mahatma Gandhi’s journal by the same name, is a “not for profit” company in which the directors are neither entitled to any salary or any perks.
But what he did not clarify was that irrespective of the fact whether the directors are entitled to any salary or perks, they will now have absolute control over the assets of the AJL worth thousands of crores of rupees, which are now being owned by the Young India, which in turn is under the absolute control of the Gandhi family and two close friends.
There is another part of the story. When the Young India company was set up, it offered to pay off the Rs 90 crore debt of the AJL. And, that money was not raised by the shareholders from their own sources, but it was loaned by the Congress party without any security and without any interest. The loan was reportedly never paid back.
To put it simply, the Congress party decided to “sell” the AJL to a company, Young India, which was mostly owned by Sonia Gandhi and her son, who at that time were president and general secretary, respectively. The Young India bought the AJL, a company with assets worth thousands of crores of rupees, for just Rs 90 crores and even that money was provided by the Congress party.
Two of the directors of Young India, Moti Lal Vohra and Oscar Fernandez have already passed away. Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda are close family friends. Effectively, the Young India is now controlled by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi only and in turn, they control the entire assets of the AJL. They may not be able to sell the assets, but they can always use them like renting them out with the rent running into crores of rupees.
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