Congress said that it will hold press conferences across India starting today, April 21, to April 24 to expose “BJP’s lies” in the National Herald case.
The campaign, titled “Congress Truths, BJP Lies,” comes after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) named Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in its chargesheet into the alleged money laundering of Rs 988 crore. The chargesheet also names Congress Overseas Chief Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey and others.
“A prosecution complaint has been filed under Sections 44 and 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, for the commission of the offence of money laundering, as defined under Section 3, read with Section 70, and punishable under Section 4 of the PMLA, 2002,” news agency ANI quoted the probe agency as saying.
Pawan Khera, Chairman of the media and publicity department of Congress, announced the pressers starting today to counter “anti-national effort” by the BJP to kill the newspaper, which he described as the “living monument of the freedom struggle”.
“From Vijayawada to Varanasi, from Kashmir to Thiruvananthapuram – Congress leaders are fanning out across India to expose BJP’s lies and anti-national efforts to kill the living monument of the freedom struggle – The National Herald,” said Khera.
He added, “Here is the list of 57 of our leaders holding press conferences in 57 cities from April 21-24,” before adding the hashtag “CongressTruthsBJPLies”.
According to list, many, including Gaurav Gogoi will hold a presser in Assam, Supriya Shrinate in Chhattisgarh, P Chidambaram in Delhi, Ashok Gehlot in Himachal Pradesh, Deepender S Hooda in Kerala, Shashi Tharoor in Lakshadweep, Bhupesh Baghel in Odisha, Dr Shama Mohd and Dr Kanhaiya Kumar in Rajasthan, Randeep Singh Surjewala in Telangana, Alka Lamba in UP, will hold pressers in 57 cities of India.
The list includes 22 states and four union territories. These are: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Laskshwadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal.
What is the National Herald case?
BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had filed a complaint in 2012, accusing Sonia, Rahul and others associated with the Congress of conspiring to cheat in a land deal. In his complaint, he alleged that Congress gave an interest-free loan of Rs 90.25 crore to Associated Journals Limited (AJL) – the company that published The National Herald newspaper, which was facing financial difficulties and eventually stopped publishing in 2008.
This loan was then irregularly assigned to Young Indian Private Limited (YIL), a newly formed company in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi held a majority of the shares. YIL acquired control of AJL’s assets, including prime properties in Delhi, Mumbai, and Lucknow, for a nominal sum of Rs 50 lakh to recover loan.
National Herald Case: Timeline of key events
1938: Jawaharlal Nehru establishes the National Herald newspaper.
2008: The National Herald ceases publication.
2010: Young Indian Private Limited (YIL) acquires a majority stake in Associated Journals Limited (AJL) – company that published the newspaper.
November 2012: Subramanian Swamy files a criminal complaint in a Delhi court.
June 2014: A Delhi court summons Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and others as accused.
August 2014: The ED initiates a money laundering probe.
December 2015: Sonia and Rahul Gandhi appear in court and are granted bail.
2016: Various legal proceedings, including appeals and exemptions from personal appearances.
November 2023: The ED attaches properties worth over Rs 750 crore linked to AJL and Young Indian.
April 2025: The ED files a chargesheet against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and others, alleging money laundering. The Rouse Avenue Court is set to decide on taking cognisance of the chargesheet on April 25. The ED also begins taking possession of attached assets.