Ravi Shankar prasad slams Sonia, Rahul over National Herald case

Union Minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday took a jibe at Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party leader Rahul Gandhi over National Herald case and said that now there is a judicial affirmation that family and business go hand-in-hand in the Congress party.

"For Congress, family and commerce run hand-in-hand, are integrally linked and given a political colour... Prasad said that there is a judicial affirmation that family and business go hand in hand and that Rahul and Sonia Gandhi hid the truth in the matter. They (Gandhi family) became the owner of properties worth Rs 2,000 crore in mere Rs 50 lakh," Prasad said in a press conference here.

He said that Jawahar Lal Nehru had started the National Herald newspaper, which stopped publishing in 2008 but even after that, Rs 90 crore and government property worth Rs 2,000 crore was handed to the paper by the previous government.

He also said that the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal yesterday pronounced an important judgement in a matter pertaining to the paper and recited some observations of the court.

"Thus from the aforesaid pact, it is palpable that the SAC company seeking assertion as a charitable institution had not disclosed fully and truly, with clear conscience and probity. Here not only there was a misrepresentation, but also suppression of material facts," Prasad said.

"The tribunal also said that we have no hesitation in holding that the entire transaction of transferring the shares of AJL to Young India was nothing but, as held by the learned Court, a clandestine and surreptitious transfer of lucrative interests in the premises to Young India," he added.

Associated Journals Limited (AJL) is the parent company of National Herald.

"In 2010, Young India Ltd was formed. Sonia, Rahul Gandhi, Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda were part of this company. The previous government said that they want to train youngsters in 'Dharma Nirpeksha Mulya' and exempted this company from Income Tax," he said.

"I did not think there will be another development after Vadra model of development. This is the family model of development," he said.

"The BJP condemns this palpable, dubious transaction of undue enrichment. It is simply corruption. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi should stop talking about corruption. The veil has been uplifted by the Court's decision," Prasad added.

He also slammed mother-son duo and said that they should not talk about corruption anymore.

"Will they tell the nation the truth about their engagements? Will they answer the questions of the people of the country?" he said.

( With inputs from ANI )