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Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday accused the National Democratic Alliance government of being “politically vindictive”. Gandhi was referring to an income tax notice, issued to the Congress in connection with the allegations that the party had misappropriated funds of a company, Associated Journals Private Limited, that used to publish the National Herald daily started by Jawaharlal Nehru.
Gandhi told news channel NDTV that the Congress had received the income tax (I-T) notice and “this kind of political witch-hunt will only help us and help us come back faster”.
The department has asked the party to respond why tax exemptions should not be withdrawn for it. The notices come close on the heels of court summons, issued against the Gandhis and several others in connection with the court case on the same issue filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy. He has accused the Gandhi’s of cheating and fraud.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “Congress party treasurer Motilal Vora has confirmed that the party has received an I-T notice. This notice and the earlier summons will be robustly and befittingly be replied to.”
Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar denied the charges of the Congress president and said the BJP was not into vindictive politics. If it had been, then the Congress would have no place to hide, he said.
Singhvi added, “This is based on the complaint of a politically-motivated person who is now a member of the BJP. Legal provisions are being totally ignored.”
In his long-pending court case, Swamy has accused the Congress of using its party funds to enable the young Indians to own Associated Journals and that the Gandhis, real aim was to grab property worth thousands of crores that belonged to the publishing company.
The Congress on the other hand has dismissed the allegations as baseless and alleged that they had loaned Rs 90 crore to the newspaper, which was on the verge of bankruptcy and shutdown.
The BJP has maintained that by law, a political party cannot give out loans and if it does so in violation of rules, it should face consequences.
The court had found enough material case to summon the Gandhis, party treasurer, Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Sam Pitroda, who was an advisor to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and Suman Dubey who is close to the Gandhi family, directing them to appear in court next month.
