NEW DELHI, June 13:
As Congress mounted protests across the country and in the heart of the national capital slamming the Modi government for misusing federal agencies on the day their former chief rahul Gandhi was summoned to appear before the Enforcement Directorate in the National Herald case, Union Minister Smriti Irani lashed out at the opposition party saying the Congress’ protests were a ploy to “save Rs 2,000 crore of the Gandhis”.
She said: “Agitated Congress leaders are out on streets to pressurise an investigating agency openly because their corruption has been exposed.”
The Minister’s remarks came as Rahul Gandhi reached the Enforcement Director Office in New Delhi for questioning in the money laundering case. The protest that Congress leaders and workers are doing today on the call of Rahul Gandhi, is not an attempt to save democracy but an attempt to save the assets of 2,000 crore of the Gandhi family, Irani said at a press conference here at the BJP headquarters.
She alleged that Associated Journals Limited (AJL) was created to serve the welfare of society but instead of serving the society, the company became limited only to the service of the “Gandhi Family”. In a direct attack on Rahul Gandhi, Irani said, he should explain to the nation about his link to Dotex Company.
She said: “If you meet Rahul Gandhi, ask him about his relationship with Dotex Merchandise Pvt Ltd. The firm is Kolkata-based and is linked to hawala. Is it true that its transactions are red flagged by the FIU Today’s march is to protect Rs 2,000 crore of the Gandhis.”
She added: “Is it true that Dotex Merchandise was under lens for dubious transactions Mrs. Gandhi (Sonia Gandhi) is also involved.”
Why is the Gandhi family interested in a former newspaper publishing company which is now running a real estate business…This shows that not just his (Rahul’s) brother-in-law Robert Vadra but the entire Gandhi family is into real estate she said.
In the 1930s, Associate Journals Limited was formed with 5,000 freedom fighters as shareholders. Today, a company that was to be run by freedom fighters has been usurped by the Gandhi family, the minister said.
The Union Minister laughed at the Congress terming its protests “to save democracy”, but said it is in fact “to save Rahul Gandhi’s properties worth Rs 2,000 crore”.
Massive protests in support of Rahul Gandhi began Monday morning hours ahead of his arrival at the Enforcement Directorate. Smriti Irani, who is seen as the “David” to Rahul’s “Goliath” since 2014, but who since 2019 have taken over the Nehru-Gandhi family borough of Amethi, said “never before has a political family attempted to hold investigative agencies to ransom to protect “ill-gotten wealth”.
She asserted that nobody is above the law, “not even Rahul Gandhi”. Explaining the ED’s case to the media, the Minister said a company called Associated Journals Limited (AJL) was founded in 1930 with the purpose of publishing a newspaper. It had 5,000 freedom fighters as shareholders but is now under the Gandhi family’s control, she said.
She alleged that the ownership of the company was transferred to one family so that it doesn’t publish newspapers but become a real estate business instead. “This company had incurred debts of Rs 90 crore in 2008 and decided that it would enter the property business. Another company named Young India was constituted in 2010 with an initial capital of Rs 5 lakh and the Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi was made its Director. (PTI)
“Mr Gandhi alone had a 75 per cent stake in the company, the rest was with his mother Sonia Gandhi and Congress leaders like Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes.
“Nine crore shares of AJL, which is 99 per cent of the total shares, are then transferred to Young India. Congress party then gave Rs 90 crore as a loan to AJL which doesn’t need to be returned.” “This company wasn’t set up to do social work.
It took a license under section 25 of the Companies Act at the time of its founding under which it can only do charity work. But in 2016, Young India accepted that it hadn’t done any charity work in the six years of its existence,” she said. So the company is set up to do social work but it works for the Gandhi family instead, Irani said. She asked Congress leaders and workers who were supporting Rahul Gandhi to ask him about his connection to Dotex Merchandise Private Limited. (UNI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
