Will not be cowed down by such threats: Cong on ED chargesheet in National Herald case
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New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Wednesday claimed that the ED chargesheet against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case only shows the panic and moral bankruptcy of the government, and said it will not be cowed down by such threats.
In a long post in Hindi, AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh issued an explainer of the financial loan given to Associated Journals Limited, the company running National Herald, and termed as false the charges that Young Indian has taken over Rs 5,000 crore of properties of Associated Journals.
"You have been in power for 11 years, you have no evidence, no proof, nothing - otherwise you would not have been forced to wait for the 365th day.
"This shows not only the government's panic but also their mental and moral bankruptcy. Modi ji, this is the Congress party. The blood of Rahul ji and Sonia Gandhi's own people is mixed in the soil of this country, show these false threats to someone else," Ramesh said.
"We will continue to raise our voice loudly against your failures, your collusion with capitalists, your politics of hatred, how unemployed and helpless you have made this country, what is the condition of women, Dalits, backward, tribals under your nose," he also said.
Congress leader Pawan Khera, in a video post on X, said it was the British who used to fear from the publication National Herald in the past while it is the RSS now.
"The British were irritated before 1947 with the National Herald, Gandhi family and Congress party, and now the Sanghis are getting irritated in the year 2025. The Gandhi family and the Congress party were the voice of the oppressed then and still are today.
"Filing a money laundering case against a not-for-profit company in which not even a single rupee was transacted and no property was transferred shows Modi's fear," Khera said in his post.
Ramesh explained the truth about AJL and Young Indian, saying the claims that 'Young Indian' took over AJL, the Gandhi family is making a lot of money from it and Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi embezzled money are all false.
He said Associated Journals Ltd publishes a newspaper - National Herald, it was founded by people like Nehru, Ravi Ahmed Kidwai and Purushottam Das Tandon.
"National Herald was the voice of the freedom struggle when most newspapers used to print the views of the British. National Herald was also banned by the British government," he noted.
"AJL had a huge debt, so the Congress party gave it a loan of Rs 90 crore through 100 bank transactions/ cheques between 2002-2011. This loan was used to pay VRS, gratuity, PF, tax, electricity bill," he claimed.
On the formation of 'Young Indian' Company, he said, AJL had so much debt that its operations had stopped, so AJL's debt was converted into equity and transferred to a new company Young Indian.
"This is a common practice, the government itself has converted the debt of many companies into equity in NCLT. Young Indian is a not-for-profit company and it is a Section 25 not for profit company - in which the shareholders cannot get even a single penny of profit, dividend, salary etc," he noted.
Ramesh said Young Indian had four shareholders - Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Oscar Fernandes, Motilal Vora (then party president, general secretary, organization general secretary and treasurer).
"AJL had 700 shareholders, the debt was converted into shares only after their consent in the EGM - due to which Young Indian also became another shareholder," he said.
Asserting that Young Indian did not takeover AJL, Ramesh said, "All assets and income belong to AJL, not Young Indian. Any rental goes to AJL - not to Young Indian or any of its shareholders. AJL does not have property worth Rs 5,000 crores. Another lie told is that AJL has property worth Rs 5,000 crores and the IT Dept itself has valued all the properties of AJL at just Rs 359 crores. Now AJL publishes Navjeevan and National Herald newspapers, publishes Qaumi Awaaz, runs websites, social media handles".
Explaining the case timeline, he said in 2013, Subramanian Swamy went to court in this case and fought this case till 2020 after which he started speaking against PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, due to which Modi and Shah became apprehensive.
"Out of fear, the government filed another case on its behalf. In 2023, the government's ED issued a provisional order of attachment. On 10 April, 2024, the tribunal confirmed this provisional order of attachment, within 365 days of which ED had to file a charge sheet. They filed this fake charge sheet on 9 April, 2025, the 365th day - which has been made public today," he said.
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CM Siddaramaiah alleges ‘criminal conspiracy’ in Sringeri recount, vows legal action
Bengaluru (PTI): Alleging a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP candidate D N Jeevaraj in the Sringeri Assembly poll recounting, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the outcome was manipulated after valid postal ballot votes in favour of Congress leader T D Raje Gowda were tampered with during the recounting process.
Following a Karnataka High Court order on an election petition filed by Jeevaraj, challenging Raje Gowda’s election, the reverification and recounting were conducted on Saturday.
After the reverification and recount of postal ballots for the Sringeri Assembly constituency, votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda were reduced by 255, the returning officer said.
A report on the matter has been submitted to the Election Commission of India for further action, the officer added.
Congress leader Raje Gowda had won the 2023 Assembly polls from Sringeri by 201 votes, defeating his nearest rival Jeevaraj.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said the High Court had directed the recounting of postal ballots and that irregularities were noticed during the exercise conducted on May 2.
“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah said, alleging that valid votes cast in favour of Raje Gowda were altered after being accepted by counting agents of all parties, including Congress, BJP, and JD(S).
He claimed that during the recounting of postal ballots, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later tampered with by subordinate officials.
“There is a second mark on the votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda. They had accepted these as valid votes. Subsequently, another mark was made by officials. This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” he said.
When asked who was behind the alleged conspiracy, the CM replied, “It was hatched by Jeevaraj and others. It is planned.”
Siddaramaiah further alleged that the returning officer acted improperly by declaring the result despite the presence of an Election Commission observer during the recounting.
“Immediately after the counting, the returning officer announced the result. He should not have done so; this is against the law,” he said.
He pointed out that Raje Gowda had originally won by 201 votes, but after the recounting, the BJP candidate was declared the winner by 52 votes.
“The BJP has committed a criminal act of conspiracy. This is not vote chori but vote dacoity,” he alleged.
The CM said a police complaint had already been filed by Raje Gowda’s election agent, Sudhir Kumar, and emphasised the need for electoral integrity.
“We want transparency and free and fair elections. That is what our Constitution mandates,” he added.
Stating that the government would pursue legal remedies, Siddaramaiah said, “We are preparing an appeal challenging the returning officer’s announcement in a court of law.”
Responding to a separate query on elections in other states, the CM said there appeared to be an anti-incumbency factor in West Bengal, while results in Tamil Nadu were “surprising,” adding that Vijay’s party was emerging as the largest there.
Following the victory of party candidates in Bagalkote and Davanagere South, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence about future electoral prospects in Karnataka.
“Even in 2028, we will win the Assembly elections. We will come back,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah added that he would order a forensic examination into the alleged tampering of postal ballots.
