New Delhi: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday hit out at the BJP-led Central government over the ongoing investigation into the National Herald case, accusing it of using central agencies to target political opponents. She called the allegations against her family and party “false” and politically motivated.
Speaking to ANI, Priyanka criticised the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning her husband, Robert Vadra, over financial matters dating back nearly two decades.
“I think the Prime Minister’s advisors are giving wrong advice these days. The public understands the truth and how the agencies are being misused. The PM should revise his strategy,” said Priyanka.
“My husband is being asked (by ED) why he gave Rs 4 lakhs to his mother 17 years ago. What kind of questions are these? In the case of the National Herald, everything is before the people. All this is being done for political reasons. All allegations are false,” she added.
The Congress MP also reacted to BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj carrying a tote bag with the slogan “National Herald Ki Loot” at a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) meeting on One Nation One Election.
“Mujhe toh mazedaar laga… I asked her about the bag, which had ‘National Herald Ki Loot’ written on it. She just smiled. They do what is guided to them by their leadership,” Priyanka remarked.
Bansuri Swaraj’s gesture followed the ED’s chargesheet filed against senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the money laundering case linked to the National Herald. Swaraj earlier said:
“This is the first time that corruption has taken place in the fourth pillar of democracy-media. The charge sheet filed by the ED highlights the old working style and ideology of the Congress party. In the guise of service, they make public institutions a tool to increase their personal property. This is a very serious matter…The Congress party and its top leadership are accountable for this.”
Responding to her, Congress leader Sukhdeo Bhagat stated:
“Bansuri Swaraj is a reputed leader. She should first tell where the loot happened. The Bharatiya Janata Party is scared of the word BJP the way Britishers used to be scared. They are diverting people from the main issues. This is the deliberate attempt to defame the Congress leaders.”
The ED prosecution complaint, filed on April 15, named Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and other Congress members including Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, and several firms. The charges are filed under Sections 44 and 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, citing offences under Section 3, read with Section 70, and punishable under Section 4 of the Act.
The complaint originally stemmed from a case filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, accusing the Congress leadership of misusing public funds via Associated Journals Ltd, the publisher of National Herald.
This isn’t the first time Priyanka Gandhi’s fashion choices stirred headlines. In December, she carried a bag with the word ‘Palestine’, which BJP leaders slammed as “Muslim appeasement.”