As Congress staged nationwide protests against the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) prosecution complaint in the National Herald case, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad responded to the party's actions, raising concerns about its leadership. He pointed out by saying that, "National Herald became a private business, an ATM for the Gandhi family."Addressing the press conference, Prasad further said that, "The Congress party has the right to protest, but it does not have the right to misappropriate government properties and give them to the National Herald."He added, “A corporate conspiracy was hatched in a very interesting way to get this entire property into the hands of the family... And what are these properties- one property on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg in Delhi, properties in Mumbai, Lucknow, Bhopal, and Patna. Young India Limited was supposed to be a charitable organization, but till now, it is not known what charity it did... Writing off Rs 90 crores for Rs 50 lakhs and acquiring property worth thousands of crores."In a reference to the history of National Herald, founded during the freedom struggle, Prasad said, "This newspaper, which was supposed to strengthen the voice of people fighting for independence, was turned into a private business—an ATM for the Gandhi family."He added, "Let’s not forget, Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi are out on bail. They went to the High Court and Supreme Court to quash the case but failed. Should the law be allowed to take its course or not?"
Congress Calls It Political Vendetta
Congress has called the ED move “political vendetta” and accused the government of misusing agencies ahead of elections. Talking about the party’s nationwide protest, Congress leader Udit Raj said, "We want to go to the public as no one is bigger than the public. We want the people to understand that a fake chargesheet has been registered against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, which is completely baseless and illegal."