Strongly defending party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case, former Union minister P Chidambaram alleged that the ED was carrying out “vendetta” at the behest of its “political masters”.
At a press conference at the party’s Delhi office, Chidambaram said the “political assault” on the integrity and reputation of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi was an “abuse of power”.
“Where is the crime? Where are the proceeds of crime? Where is the tainted money? Where is the offence of money laundering? It is elementary that there is no transaction of money. Without money, there are no proceeds of crime. Without proceeds of crime, there is no money laundering. Without money laundering, the ED has no jurisdiction…” he said.
“Congress will resist and fight back (against) this political assault on its leaders,” he said.
Defending the Gandhis, Chidambaram said in the conversion of loan to equity that happened in the case of Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and Young Indian (YI), Congress loaned Rs 90 crore to AJL over a period of 10 to 12 years. That loan was taken on by Young Indian and is irrecoverable, he said.
“Therefore, the loan was converted into equity,” he said.
Chidambraram said that recently the central government had converted a liability of `36,000 crore owed by Vodafone India to it into equity. Now, the government’s equity in Vodafone India is 48.99%, he said.
“That loan cannot be recovered by the government. So, two months ago, that loan was converted into equity. Why doesn’t the ED file a money-laundering case against the government?” he said.
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Chidambaram said that AJL restructuring took place after legal advice. In 2010, a new company, Young Indian was formed as a not-for-profit company which had four shareholders, all Congress senior office-bearers.
In another press conference in Mumbai, the Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera rejected allegations of money laundering and said the party used the successful debt-equity conversion formula to save the newspaper, which he said was “a symbol of the independence movement”. “Just like the British who targeted the voice of the independence movement like the National Herald and conspired against it, the BJP now wants to destroy the legacy of the freedom movement,” Khera said.
In a presser in Bhopal, senior Congress leader Kumari Selja called the ED action “political revenge” and a “BJP conspiracy to divert people’s attention from burning issues”.