Fake Rent Agreements, Bogus Ads Conduits For Money Laundering In Herald Case: BJP

New Delhi: The BJP on Saturday claimed that fake rent agreements, advance rent payments and bogus advertisements were used for money laundering in the National Herald case, as it rebutted Congress's claims that the charges against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had no substance.

BJP spokesperson Pratyush Kanth said at a press conference that the National Herald was launched in 1938 to voice the sentiments of people, but the Nehru-Gandhi family sought to turn it into private property by eying its real estate. Citing a probe, Kanth claimed that Young Indian, an NGO with 76 per cent of its shares owned by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, received 18.12 crore in donations from people and entities not genuine.

A big part of the Rs 142 crore rent received by the Associated Journal Ltd, which owns the National Herald newspaper, had no basis in any agreement, the BJP spokesman alleged. Advertisements worth Rs 15.86 crore were given to the paper from Congress-affiliated bodies, he added.

"The Congress seems to be running a school on corruption," he alleged, citing land scam charges against Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law, Robert Vadra. Corruption is so deeply rooted in the Congress that not even for a moment did Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi think that there was something wrong, Kanth said.

The Congress has been protesting against the Centre after the Enforcement Directorate chargesheeted the Gandhis in the National Herald case, calling it "vendetta politics".