Salient Points of Press Conference of Senior BJP MP and Former Union Minister Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad
The Congress has every right to protest and hold demonstrations, but it does not have the right to loot national assets or illegally grab land. If the law is doing its job, why does Congress have a problem?
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Should the law be allowed to take its own course or not? If you have conspired and unlawfully taken possession of property worth thousands of crores, should that not be questioned?
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Should the law be obstructed just because the beneficiaries of this conspiracy are you (Sonia Gandhi) and your son (Rahul Gandhi), who hold 76% ownership in YIL?
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National Herald, Navjeevan, and Qaumi Awaz—which were launched during the freedom struggle to amplify the voices fighting against British rule—were ultimately turned into a tool for fundraising for the Congress Party and the Congress family.
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The Congress handed over the entire assets of AJL into the hands of one family through a corporate conspiracy, turning it into a private business and using it as their personal ATM.
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When it comes to doing business, the Gandhi family is unmatched. By writing off ₹90 crore in outstanding loans for just ₹50 lakh, they got property worth thousands of crores transferred in their name.
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The Congress is a political party and enjoys several exemptions, but a political party cannot fund a private entity—this is completely illegal.
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The Congress claimed that Young Indian Foundation was established for charitable purposes, but there is no record of any charitable work ever being carried out through it.
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In 1937, National Herald, Navjeevan, and Qaumi Awaz were launched with 5,000 shareholders, which clearly proves that National Herald was never the private property of the Nehru family.
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A member of the Congress family purchases land worth ₹3 crore in Haryana and sells it for ₹58 crore — this is the Gandhi family's model of development.
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Sardar Patel had written several letters warning Pandit Nehru that the way money was being collected from people for this newspaper was not appropriate. It was a matter of concern, and all those letters are still available.
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Chandrabhan Gupta, the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, had also remarked that the newspaper, instead of becoming the voice of the nation, had become the mouthpiece of the Nehru family.
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Senior BJP MP and former Union Minister Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad while addressing a press conference at the Central Office today strongly criticized the Congress's sit-in protest against the ED charge sheet filed against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case. Shri Prasad said that the law is doing its job in the National Herald case, so why is the Congress staging protests? Whereas, for the last four years, Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi have not been able to give a satisfactory answer in this matter. Be it National Herald scam or any other, no one could rival the Gandhi family's business acumen. The newspaper which became the voice of freedom fighters during the freedom movement was made the private business of the ‘Gandhi family’. Bharatiya Janata Party also questioned Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, asking when the law is taking action against corruption, then shouldn't it take action?
Shri Prasad stated that the Congress party appears to be deeply unsettled at present and is considering organizing protests across the country. While protesting is their democratic right, it does not entitle them to plunder land and funds. Congress has every right to voice its opposition, but that right does not extend to the misuse of public assets allocated to the National Herald by the government—this distinction must be clearly understood. Shri Prasad said that the National Herald newspaper was established in 1937, with 5,000 shareholders who had legitimately purchased shares. Hence, it was never the private property of the Nehru family—this is a crucial fact. Freedom fighters and, later, prominent Congress leaders including chief ministers had contributed significantly to it.
Former Union Law Minister Shri Prasad explained that in 2008, the publication of National Herald was shut down as it became unsustainable. Subsequently, the Congress party provided ₹90 crore to National Herald, which was actually given to Associated Journals Limited (AJL)—the company responsible for publishing it. He emphasized that According to Congress, the entity was a domestic company; however, when the loan could not be repaid, a carefully crafted corporate conspiracy was executed to bring the entire asset under their control. To achieve this, a company named Young Indian was formed, in which Sonia Gandhi held 38% shares, Rahul Gandhi another 38%, and the remaining shares were with individuals like Motilal Vohra and Oscar Fernandes. Eventually, equity shares worth ₹90 crore were transferred to Young Indian.
Shri Prasad stated that the transfer itself was not a major issue, but what followed was significant—Young Indian, in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi held 76% of the shares, ended up acquiring all the assets of Associated Journals Limited. These assets included properties on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg in Delhi, as well as in Mumbai, Lucknow, Bhopal, and Patna, with a total value running into thousands of crores. It was claimed that Young Indian was a non-profit organization established for charitable purposes. However, to this day, it remains unclear whether any charitable activities were ever carried out. Following this, a private complaint was filed, legal proceedings began, and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) initiated its investigation into the matter.
Senior BJP MP Shri Prasad stated that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had questioned former Congress interim president Motilal Vohra, as he was the only individual employed by the company at that time. Congress leader Pawan Bansal was also interrogated, and both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were questioned for several hours, but no concrete answers emerged. When asked about the accounting of the ₹90 crore loan, it was revealed that only ₹50 lakh was paid back to Associated Journals and the rest of the loan was waived. He remarked that no one can match this family in business—waiving a ₹90 crore loan by paying just ₹50 lakh and acquiring ownership of properties worth thousands of crores. He further pointed out that another member of the family bought land in Haryana for ₹3 crore, had it converted for commercial use, and later sold it for ₹58 crore. This, he said, is the “Gandhi Model of Development”—not of Mahatma Gandhi, but of the ‘Gandhi family’. And yet, they continue to question others. The conduct of this family, he asserted, has been marked by urban fraud and accumulation of property—all of which was originally allotted by the government.
Shri Prasad stated that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) took over the case and investigated it under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, eventually submitting its report to the court under Section 8. He explained that what is now termed a private complaint is essentially equivalent to a chargesheet, as unlike regular complaints that lead to investigations, this one was filed post-investigation. The court has scheduled the next hearing for the 25th, raising the question—what is there to create such an uproar about? He emphasized that both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are currently out on bail and had approached the Supreme Court to quash the proceedings, but received no relief except the exemption from personal court appearances. Despite the case running for four years with no satisfactory answers from them, the law continues to follow its course. However, senior lawyers from their party, even those sitting in Parliament, are labeling the case as strange and baseless. The law is performing its duty and should be allowed to continue doing so.
• Should the law be allowed to do its work or not?
• If you have taken over property worth thousands of crores of rupees illegally, through conspiracy, should no questions be raised on that?
• If there is a clear case in which public property worth thousands of crores of rupees located at prominent places in different parts of the country has been misused, will the law still not be allowed to do its work?
• Will the law not be allowed to do its work because the beneficiaries of this conspiracy are you (Sonia Gandhi) and your son (Rahul Gandhi), who have a 76% stake in AJL?
Mr Prasad said that today, there is a government of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, which has zero tolerance against corruption, in which the law will function and will be allowed to do so. Shri Prasad stated that the story of National Herald is quite fascinating. While reviewing some facts with the research team, a remark by Sardar Patel was found, in which he had said that the method of collecting donations from certain people was not proper and was a matter of concern. These individuals were authentic Congress leaders, and all the correspondence from that time is available. The statements made by Nehru and Sardar Patel are documented. Chandrabhanu Gupta, a former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, had raised a significant amount of money for this newspaper. According to him, the newspaper was meant to be the voice of the nation, but it was turned into the voice of Nehru and his family. Many Congress leaders have also made similar statements on record. The past and present of this newspaper are recorded in Sardar Patel's letter to Nehru and Chandra Bhanu Gupta's autobiography. It was pointed out that today, despite the existence of so many media outlets, newspapers, and news channels, the newspaper that had full support from the Congress party and its governments failed to run. This raises the question of why this happened. The answer lies in the fact that this newspaper was never meant to function as a regular newspaper. Its purpose was to collect advertisements and acquire government property to build large structures. After independence, it was not just a newspaper, but a medium to gather advertisements and acquire properties with government assistance. When Young India took over, it still received ₹25–26 crore in advertisements.
Former Union Law Minister Shri Prasad stated that the newspaper, established during the independence struggle to support those resisting British rule, the newspaper ultimately became a means for the Congress party to raise funds. The BJP strongly condemns this. The Congress party’s reaction and attempts to intimidate the ED are deeply unfortunate. This constitutes a direct violation of the country's legal process.
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