Accusing the BJP Government at the Centre of targeting the Nehru-Gandhi family on baseless allegations, Congress MP and former TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy asked the party cadre to participate in the nationwide protest on July 21 and 22. Congress president Sonia Gandhi will be visiting the Enforcement Directorate’s office on July 21 in response to the summons sent by the ED in the National Herald case.
Addressing a press conference through Zoom app on Tuesday, Mr. Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that the BJP Government was using Central agencies, especially Enforcement Directorate, as a tool to target the opposition leaders. He said that the allegations of money laundering in the National Herald case by the Enforcement Directorate were completely false. He said there was no basis for the ED or any other Central agency to question Congress president Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi. He pointed out that the National Herald issue was a simple debt-to-equity conversion with absolutely no transaction of money. Since no money was involved in the transaction, the question of money laundering does not arise, he said.
Mr. Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the BJP Government had been using the ED only to defame the Nehru-Gandhi family, demoralise the Congress cadre and divert people’s attention from real issues like rising inflation and China’s intrusion into India. He said that debt-to-equity conversion was a regular process which lending banks do frequently. The Congress leader said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Government had revived the National Herald issue which was earlier closed.
