Those who fight for truth cannot be intimidated: Rahul on probe into Gandhi trusts

Hours after the government initiated a probe into the funding of three Nehru-Gandhi family linked trusts including the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF), Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday (July 8) hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said those who fight for the truth cannot be intimidated.

Taking to Twitter, Gandhi said, “Mr Modi believes the world is like him. He thinks every one has a price or can be intimidated. He will never understand that those who fight for the truth have no price and cannot be intimidated.”

Though the former Congress chief did not mention any inquiry, his remarks came after the government set up an inter-ministerial team to coordinate a probe into the alleged violation of various laws including the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) by three trusts associated with the Nehru-Gandhi family — the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust and the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust.

The PMLA deals with cases related to money laundering and the FCRA deals with acceptance and utilisation of foreign contributions.

The decision was taken nearly a fortnight after the BJP said the RGF had received funds from the Chinese Embassy.

The BJP, however, said the investigation was a “natural” outcome of information brought out in the public domain recently. “These transactions are in the public domain… Our government is committed to transparency. It is natural to investigate these transactions after so much information was recently brought out in public domain,” NDTV quoted BJP general secretary P Muralidhar Rao as saying.

The allegation came amidst the stand-off between the Indian Army and China’s PLA in Ladakh.

The Congress clarified that the trusts were used for humanitarian work and distinguished service and would withstand any “vengeful and roving enquiry”.

“Every day, a new conspiracy is crafted by the delusional BJP leadership so as to spread disinformation, distraction and diversion to bury the apparent incompetence and complete failure of the Modi Government. BJP leadership is also scared of the questions being asked on its deep-rooted Chinese connections, unexplained donations to the PM’s fund by Chinese Entities and continued promotion of Chinese-owned businesses,” the Congress said, according to NDTV.

The party also asked six questions, including whether the government would look into donations received from Chinese entities into the PM-Cares fund.

The Congress went on to question whether the government would inquire into donations received by the BJP and its ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

“Will the Modi Government order an enquiry into the nearly 500% increase in income and donations to the BJP from Rs. 570.86 Crores (in 2015-2016) to Rs. 2410 crores (in 2018-2019)? Let BJP and Modi Government not bury their abject failures in defending our borders, fighting Covid-19, tackling a devastating economic recession, or avoiding answers to the questions,” the Congress said.

(With inputs from agencies)