Beta launch: Congress unveils National Herald on Nehru's 127th birth anniversary

The AJL had in Aug announced that National Herald, which became defunct in 2008, would resume publication

Congress mouthpiece National Herald was launched in an online format on Monday on newspaper founder Jawaharlal Nehru's 127th birth anniversary.

Paying tributes to Nehru, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted, "Befitting tribute to Pt. Nehru's glorious legacy of liberal thought and an inclusive India, Welcome the launch of National Herald."

On the launch day, there are articles from Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, Observer Research Foundation head Sudheendra Kulkarni.

The Associated Journals Ltd had in August announced that National Herald, which became defunct in 2008, would resume publication.

"The Associated Journals Ltd, a company founded in 1937 by Pandit Jawaharalal Nehru, has taken steps to resume publication of its English and Hindi newspapers National Herald and Navjivan," Congress Treasurer Motilal Vora, who is also managing director of AJL Limited, had said.

The party had said that the spirit of the forthcoming publications of The Association Journals Limited, a not for profit company, is captured by the tagline "Freedom is in peril, defend it with your might".

Vora said the publications shall seek to give voice to the vision of Nehru and shall seek to occupy a liberal, progressive, secular space.

"They shall strive to represent the under-represented and all those deprived of voice, thereby promoting the ideals of a plural, democratic party," he said.

The decision to relaunch the publication had come in the midst of a legal battle over its past, which has ensnared Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul. The issue is at present pending in court.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy, who has filed a private complaint in a local court, has accused top Congress leaders of misappropriation, a charge vehemently denied by the party.

He had also written to Urban Development Ministry demanding cancellation of land allotment and confiscation of properties to AJL for alleged violation of allotment conditions.

Both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul along with five others were granted bail on December 19, 2015 after they appeared in response to the summons.