Days after senior Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi decided to throw now-deceased Congress leader Motilal Vora under the bus for the alleged financial irregularities in the National Herald scam, his mother Sonia Gandhi has followed suit. During her questioning by the ED on Tuesday, July 26, Sonia Gandhi reportedly stated that she was unable to explain the transactions involving the acquisition of the assets of Associated Journals Limited, in which she and her son own the majority stake.
Parroting the same argument presented by her son during his questioning, the Congress interim president reportedly informed the ED officials that the former Congress Treasurer Motilal Vora was aware of the specifics of the transactions between Congress, AJL, and Young Indian.
According to reports, the Enforcement Directorate had sought the Congress leader’s response to 30 questions pertaining to her involvement with the National Herald newspaper and transactions related to the acquisition of Associated Journals Limited (AJL) by Young Indian. AJL publishes National Herald, the party’s mouthpiece masquerading as a newspaper.
After being grilled for six hours, Sonia Gandhi was asked to appear before the agency for the third round of questioning on Wednesday. Reportedly, she was questioned for over three hours on the third day of her deposition in the National Herald newspaper-linked money laundering case. No fresh summons have been issued, officials informed.
Rahul Gandhi blames deceased Motilal Vora for alleged financial irregularities in National Herald case
It becomes pertinent to recall here that on June 16, when the Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi was being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), he too had washed his hands off from having any personal knowledge about the transactions which are being probed for money laundering. He had also gone on to blame now-deceased Congress leader Motilal Vora for alleged financial irregularities.
Rahul Gandhi had, like his mother, reportedly denied having any knowledge of loans or the accommodation entries made by the Young Indian and put the blame squarely on the shoulders of Motilal Vora, a Gandhi family loyalist who passed away in December 2020 at age 92.
Interestingly, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi together hold a 76% stake in the Young Indian. Of the remaining 24%, deceased Motilal Vora and another Congress loyalist Oscar Fernandes held 12% each.
Sonia Gandhi’s Congress workers resort to hooliganism to protest against ED questioning
Meanwhile, on July 26, when Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi was called by Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning for the second time in the ongoing investigation of the National Herald case, Congress workers and leaders across the country indulged in hooliganism and vandalism to protests against the central government, claiming they were using central investigation agencies to scare the opposition leaders.
Just like the first hearing that took place on July 21, the Congress workers protested against the central government and set things on fire. In Nagpur, Congress workers set a car on fire. In Odisha, members of the Pradesh Mahila Congress burnt an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and “proudly” published the video on its official Twitter handle. Similar visuals had surfaced from Haryana.
Notably, when Rahul Gandhi was called by Enforcement Directorate, Congress workers had similarly turned violent and sparked mayhem throughout Delhi. They burnt tyres and protested outside ED’s office as well.
