National Herald case: Congress slams Modi govt, says allegations are false
Congress leader Pawan Khera said it was the British who used to fear the National Herald publication in the past and now it was the turn of the RSS
The Congress on Wednesday (April 16) launched a blistering attack on the Modi government’s “moral bankruptcy” over a chargesheet filed against its leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and said it won’t bow to threats.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh refuted allegations of corruption and embezzlement hurled against Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), which runs the National Herald newspaper.
No proof
"You have been in power for 11 years, you have no evidence, no proof, nothing,” Ramesh said in a post on X.
"This shows not only the government's panic but also their mental and moral bankruptcy. Modiji, this is the Congress party. The blood of Rahulji and Sonia Gandhi's own people is mixed in the soil of this country, show these false threats to someone else," he said.
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"We will continue to raise our voice loudly against your failures, your collusion with capitalists, your politics of hatred, how unemployed and helpless you have made this country, what is the condition of women, Dalits, backward, tribals under your nose," he added.
False claims
Ramesh said the claims that 'Young Indian' took over the AJL, that the Gandhi family was making a lot of money from it and Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had embezzled money were all false.
"National Herald was the voice of the freedom struggle when most newspapers used to print the views of the British. National Herald was also banned by the British government," he said.
"AJL had a huge debt, so the Congress party gave it a loan of Rs 90 crore through 100 bank transactions/cheques between 2002 and 2011. This loan was used to pay VRS, gratuity, PF, tax, electricity bill.”
Formation of Young Indian
On the formation of Young Indian, he said AJL had so much debt that its operations had stopped and so AJL's debt was converted into equity and transferred to a new company, Young Indian.
"Young Indian is a not-for-profit company and it is a Section 25 not-for-profit company in which shareholders cannot get even a single penny of profit, dividend, salary etc," he noted.
Also read: National Herald case living example of Congress's corruption: BJP on ED charge sheet
Ramesh said Young Indian had four shareholders – Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Oscar Fernandes and Motilal Vora.
"AJL had 700 shareholders, the debt was converted into shares only after their consent in the EGM due to which Young Indian also became another shareholder," he said.
Asserting that Young Indian did not take over AJL, Ramesh said: "All assets and income belong to AJL, not Young Indian. Any rental goes to AJL, not to Young Indian or any of its shareholders.
“Another lie told is that AJL has property worth Rs 5,000 crores and the IT department itself has valued all the properties of AJL at just Rs 359 crores. Now AJL publishes Navjeevan and National Herald newspapers, publishes Qaumi Awaaz, runs websites, social media handles.”
ED case against AJL
Ramesh added that the Enforcement Directorate issued a provisional order of attachment in 2023. Once a tribunal confirmed this on April 10, 2024, the ED had 365 days to file a chargesheet.
This was filed on April 9, 2025, the last and 365th day.
Also read: REPLUG: Explained — what’s the National Herald case that haunts Congress
Modi's fear
Separately, Congress leader Pawan Khera, in a video post on X, said it was the British who used to fear the publication the National Herald in the past and now it was the turn of the RSS.
"Filing a money laundering case against a not-for-profit company in which not even a single rupee was transacted and no property was transferred shows Modi's fear," Khera said.