Guwahati, Apr 16 (PTI) Assam Pradesh BJP president Dilip Saikia on Wednesday said that the Congress party’s protest against the chargesheet filed by the ED in the National Herald case involving Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi is not only condemnable but also goes against the spirit of a stable society.

The National Herald case is proceeding legally. Both Sonia and Rahul, despite not being jailed remain under legal scrutiny, Saikia said in a statement here.

For the last four years, both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have failed to provide satisfactory answers to the investigating agencies, the state BJP president said.

“Protests may be a democratic right but no one has the right to loot the nation’s land and capital,” Saikia alleged.

The National Herald newspaper launched in 1937 with 5,000 shareholders, ”was never a personal property of the Nehru family. In 2008, the publication of the newspaper was discontinued. Later, the Congress party granted a loan of Rs 90 crore to National Herald, which was given to Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the original publisher of the newspaper”, he said.

When AJL could not repay the loan, efforts were made to acquire the National Herald through a company named Young Indian, where Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi each held 38 per cent shares. The remaining shares were in the names of individuals, such as Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, Saikia alleged.

Eventually, Young Indian acquired all properties of AJL, which included prime assets on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg in Delhi, along with properties worth thousands of crores in Mumbai, Lucknow, Bhopal, and Patna, he alleged.

”Although Congress claims that ‘Young Indian’ was a non-profit organization set up for charitable purposes, it has yet to carry out any visible charitable work,” he said.

The entire process came to light following a personal complaint, leading to an investigation by the ED, and the actions taken against Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are in line with judicial directions, the BJP state president said.

”The Congress, having ruled the country for decades, is perhaps accustomed to keeping institutions like the ED under its control but the BJP has never misused any government agency,” Saikia said.

It is important to note that the case was registered in 2013, during Congress’ rule at the Centre. Therefore, the party’s attempts to obstruct the functioning of investigative agencies and intimidate them go against democratic norms, he said.

“We believe that the people of India will never support the loot committed by the Gandhi family. The party’s protest to defend national looters like Sonia and Rahul is nothing but a ridiculous act,” Saikia added. PTI DG SBN DG SBN