Sonia Gandhi is the chairperson of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. Dr Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi, P Chidambaram, and Priyanka Gandhi are on the board of this foundation.
As the Congress Party has intensified its allegations on the Indian government of “surrendering” to China, the BJP has hit out with new allegations on the Congress party. The BJP now claims that the Chinese are funding the Congress. The ruling party has accused the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation of receiving donations from the Chinese embassy in India. According to the party, these donations were made in 2005-06.
Sonia Gandhi is the chairperson of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. Dr Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi, P Chidambaram, and Priyanka Gandhi are on the board of this foundation.
“Did the then UPA government take a bribe from the Chinese? Is it not true that after taking this donation, the foundation recommended a free trade agreement with China, which was heavily tilted in favour of the Chinese,” Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad asked.
Ravi Shankar Prasad also accused the UPA government of not mentioning this donation in any government records.
“Congress must answer that if they took money from the Chinese embassy, how was this money put to use?” He asked.
According to some reports, the donations were around $2 million between 2004 and 2006 and $9 million between 2006 and 2013.
In 2009, as per the annual RGF report, in April 2009, The Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies (RGICS) Fellow Mohammad Saqib carried out a feasibility study, ”India-China: Free Trade Agreement (FTA)”, in association with Purnachandra Rao.
The study found out that because of the comparative advantage of labour surplus, China is fully integrated into the world economy as a major economic powerhouse than India. But the study also went on to propose an FTA that would help bilateral economic relations, and that the free flow of goods, services, investments and capital would, in fact, benefit India”s trade sector more than China’s.
Congress rivals argue that this study was done despite the admission that China was already benefiting much more than India from the imbalanced trade.
The BJP Chief JP Nadda on Friday released documents that he said showed that during the Manmohan Singh era, money from the Prime Minister’s relief fund was diverted and donated to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.
“PMNRF (Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund), meant to help people in distress, was donating money to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation in the UPA years. Who sat on the PMNRF board? Smt. Sonia Gandhi. Who chairs RGF? Smt. Sonia Gandhi. Totally reprehensible, disregarding ethics, processes and not bothering about transparency,” Mr Nadda asked.
PMNRF, meant to help people in distress, was donating money to Rajiv Gandhi Foundation in UPA years.
Who sat on the PMNRF board? Smt. Sonia Gandhi
Who chairs RGF? Smt. Sonia Gandhi.
Totally reprehensible, disregarding ethics, processes and not bothering about transparency. pic.twitter.com/tttDP4S6bY
— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) June 26, 2020
P. Chidambaram hit out at BJP Chief JP Nadda for speaking “semi-truths”. Nadda had accused the Congress party of transfer of Rs 20 lakh from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) in 2005, during the Congress-led Manmohan Singh government
Accusing the ruling party of asking “frivolous questions”, Chidambaram said, “Suppose RGF returns Rs 20 lakh, will PM Modi assure the country that China will clear encroachments and restore status quo?”
“Anybody with common sense knows think tanks function on the basis of grants and endowments. As long as the foundation is compliant with FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) and has submitted audited accounts, which the government has accepted, it is the end of the matter,” the former Finance Minister told NDTV.
Reminding the BJP chief that the money had been used for “tsunami relief work in the Andaman and Nicobar”, Chidamabaram urged him to “come to terms with reality” and focus on answering questions over “Chinese incursions into Indian territory”.
“BJP President JP Nadda is speaking in semi-truths. Why is the BJP hiding the fact that 20 million rupees received by the RGF (Rajiv Gandhi Foundation) from the PM National Relief Fund in 2005 were for tsunami relief work in Andaman and Nicobar?” Chidambaram asked on Twitter.
“(and) what does the grant of RGF 15 years ago have to do with infiltration of Indian territory in 2020 under the supervision of the Modi government?” he asked referring to Chinese intrusion in eastern Ladakh region.
BJP also hit out at the Congress party for meeting with Chinese officials and “having a secret pact”. An image of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in a meeting with Chinese embassy officials in 2008 was circulated to highlight Congress-China connection.
On this front, BJP must be also mindful of the fact that while in the opposition between 2004-2014, many leaders from the BJP too met with members of the Communist Party of China. The then party President Rajnath Singh and a delegation of the CPC had carried a formal meeting at the BJP headquarters in 2007.
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