J.P. Nadda
The BJP on Saturday continued its attack on the Congress and the Gandhi family over the alleged links between the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) and China, with party president J.P. Nadda saying they had sacrificed the national interest by accepting donations from the foreign power.
At a press conference here, Mr. Nadda posed 10 questions to Congress president Sonia Gandhi about the foundation’s working. “The Gandhi family should answer for their sins,” he said.
Mr. Nadda had this week raised the issue of the RGF accepting donations from the Chinese Embassy, to which former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram responded by asking would Prime Minister Narendra Modi assure the country that China would vacate Indian territory if the RGF returned the ₹20-lakh donation.
Mr. Nadda said China had donated to the foundation every year from 2005 to 2009 and donations from the “tax haven” of Luxembourg were made from 2006 to 2009.
“Why did the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, headed by Sonia Gandhi, accept money from the Chinese government and Chinese Embassy? Isn’t it a shame, sacrificing national interest by accepting money from foreign powers for personal trusts,” he asked. He raised concern over the UPA government’s “haste” with regard to the East Asia Free Trade Agreement. “India’s trade deficit with China was allowed to increase from an almost negligible $1.1 billion in 2003-04 to as much as $36.2 billion in 2013-14. Why did the Congress weaken the economic position?”
He alleged that funds had been ‘diverted’ from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund to the RGF from 2005 to 2008, and the company founded by Congress leader Rameshwar Thakur had been appointed the auditor of the PMNRF. Mr. Nadda also hit out at former PM Manmohan Singh, saying he had allocated ₹100 crore to the private charitable trust when he was Finance Minister in 1991. “Since then, it has regularly received donations from the government of India Ministries. Yet, the RGF refuses to be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General or even come under the Right to Information Act. Why,” he asked.
The Congress on Saturday said the BJP president has made making sensational claims his favourite pastime after J.P. Nadda launched a fresh offensive against the Congress and the Gandhi family.
In a statement, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala gave a detailed account of the visit of BJP leaders to China at the invitation of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) when the BJP was in the opposition.
“Why did the then BJP president Nitin Gadkari go to China on a five-day visit on January 19, 2011, at the invitation of the CCP? Why did former BJP president Amit Shah send a delegation of MPs/MLAs in November 2014 to China for a week-long study in the Party School of the CCP? Why did Narendra Modi visit China on four occasions as Gujarat Chief Minister and on five occasions as Prime Minister, besides hosting the Chinese Premier on three occasions in India? Isn’t he the only Prime Minister to have had 18 meetings with the Chinese Premier in six years,” Mr. Surjewala asked.
He also dared the RSS and the Vivekananda Foundation to make public the list of all their donors, including foreign sources. “Will the BJP disclose the source of funding, amounts received, the names of donors (including of Chinese origin) for Overseas Friends of BJP (OF-BJP)? How much amount has been received by OF-BJP from Overseas Friends of BJP-China and Hong Kong and when? What is the connection of Shri Rajkumar Naraindas Sabnani alias Raju Sabnani to OF-BJP,” he asked.
Earlier in the day, former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram accused Mr. Nadda of “specialising” in speaking half-truths regarding the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) receiving money from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for tsunami relief work.
On Friday, Mr. Nadda targeted Congress president Sonia Gandhi as the head of the RGF and called the PMNRF’s grant to a “family-run foundation” as fraud.
“BJP President Mr. Nadda specialises in speaking half-truths. My colleague Randeep Surjewala exposed his half truths yesterday. Why is the BJP hiding the fact that the Rs. 20 lakh received by RGF from PM National Relief Fund in 2005 was for tsunami relief work in Andaman & Nicobar? And that every rupee was spent for the purpose and accounted for?” Mr. Chidambaram wrote on Twitter.
“Suppose RGF returns the Rs. 20 lakh, will PM Modi assure the country that China will vacate its transgression and restore status quo ante? Mr Nadda, come to terms with reality, don’t live in the past that is distorted by your half-truths,” he said.
‘Diplomatic failure’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi should publicly condemn China for brazen intrusions into Indian territory and his government should take “strong and quick action” to resolve the LAC issue, the Congress said on Saturday.
At a virtual press conference, former Law Minister Kapil Sibal said the last six years of the Modi government had seen the biggest diplomatic failure and no major global power was standing with India now.
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