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The legal storm could shake up Indian politics like never before as senior Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have been charged with money laundering for the first time
Both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are on bail in the National Herald case registered by the CBI. (Image: PTI/File)
‘Where is the crime?’ – asked former Union minister P Chidambaram on Monday, as the Congress began a battery of press conferences to counter the charges against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case.
This is perhaps the biggest crisis to hit the Congress lately, and definitely the gravest one for the Gandhis after the Bofors. The Gandhi family – India’s most powerful political dynasty – is now officially facing money laundering charges. It involves Rs 2000 crore, real estate, and a defunct newspaper.
But the legal storm could shake up Indian politics like never before as both Sonia and Rahul have been charged for the first time for money laundering.
“They will go to jail,” claimed BJP MP Sambit Patra on Monday, underlining how the saffron party is going all out.
A big question looms, however. Are the legal troubles of the Gandhis going to be compounded?
This week, a tense courtroom drama could unfold. On April 25, a Delhi court will decide whether to take cognizance of the ED chargesheet. But, what could cause a political earthquake is if the central agency will choose to raise the stakes and summon the Gandhis or take them into custody.
Remember, both Sonia and Rahul are on bail in the National Herald case registered by the CBI. They subsequently went to the Supreme Court but got no further relief.
In 2022, the ED had repeatedly questioned them in this case. So, if the charges stick and the court summons the Gandhis, this could be a body blow for the Grand Old Party ahead of key election battles.
“We are not afraid of Modi’s agencies,” Rahul has reacted. But, the Congress knows that multiple judicial proceedings and summons can keep the Gandhis under constant legal scrutiny and can lead to internal party issues.
The narrative around the Gandhis “appropriating” real estate worth hundreds of crores through a non-profit company feeds into the BJP’s criticism of ‘dynasty politics’ and misuse of power. Worse, if the charges are proven, it could lead to serious consequences like imprisonment.
For the Gandhi family, there is another problem – their son-in-law Robert Vadra was questioned for alleged money laundering for three consecutive days last week. He could face three chargesheets soon as well.
The BJP sees this as long-overdue accountability – the party in fact has listed the National Herald chargesheet and Vadra’s questioning as achievements of Modi 3.0, in a video put out from its official social media handles.
The Congress, meanwhile, sees it as ‘vendetta’ politics. But in politics, it is perception that matters. The BJP is out to prove that the Gandhis are corrupt and it is time they pay.
After a brief lull, the ED is back in action in political cases – from going after the Gandhis in Delhi, former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel in Chhattisgarh, the Lalu Prasad Yadav family in Bihar, and CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s family in Kerala.
But, the agency now has its task cut out to achieve success from the courts in terms of fast trials and successful prosecution – something in which it has struggled so far giving the opposition the narrative that it is working to target the BJP’s political rivals.
WHAT IS THE NATIONAL HERALD CASE?
The case is about the National Herald, a newspaper started by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1938. In 2008, the paper shut down due to debt.
Then, a new company called ‘Young Indian Ltd’ – linked to Rahul and Sonia, who have 76 percent share-holding – took control of its assets. The ED has said this was a backdoor move to grab real estate worth Rs 2,000 crore.
The ED’s case is that the Gandhis used political clout to acquire these assets without paying market value, and in fact had paid only Rs 50 lakh. The assets were originally under the Congress party’s domain via unpaid loans amounting to Rs 90 crore.
The Congress allegedly waived off this loan to benefit Young Indian Ltd; essentially, party funds were used to facilitate the takeover, is the ED’s entire case. But, the Congress said transactions involving AJL and Young Indian were lawful and aimed at preserving the legacy of the National Herald newspaper, and saving it.
The Congress also said Young Indian is a Section 25 non-profit company, and Sonia and Rahul are legally prohibited from receiving any financial benefits. The party has stressed that no movable or immovable property was transferred to the company, whose role was limited to holding shares.
