Parliament's winter session began as expected - with the government and opposition exchanging jibes and the consequent chaos forcing an early adjournment. The BJP and arch-rivals Congress squabbled outside too - over senior leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi being charged with criminal conspiracy in the National Herald money laundering case.
Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi mocked the Bharatiya Janata Party for 'conjuring a case (out) of its own twisted mind' and said the charges were 'the BJP' recycled obsession'. The BJP responded with taunts of its own; the party's National General Secretary, Tarun Chugh, told reporters the Congress 'is in a state of panic, frustration, and outcry' over the allegations.
"This is a bizarre situation. No crime, no cash, no trail to find... (yet) the BJP conjures (up) a case of its own twisted mind. If justice is blind, then the ED (the Enforcement Directorate, the federal agency that filed charges against the Gandhis) is colour blind... it sees only one colour."
The 'one colour' reference was to allegations federal investigative agencies, like the ED, file false cases against opposition leaders as instructed by the union government. The BJP routinely denies these claims.
"This is a case with no movement of money or immovable property. Yet the ED, in its imagination, sees 'money laundering'. Today, fiction has found a uniform. If vendetta were a syllabus, the BJP would graduate with honours," Singhvi, also a Supreme Court senior advocate, said. "This is not the National Herald case. This is the National Harassment case."
#WATCH | Delhi | On a new FIR registered in the National Herald Case, Senior Advocate and Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi says, "This is a bizarre situation. No crime, no cash, no trail to find. The BJP still conjures a case of its own twisted mind. If justice is blind,… pic.twitter.com/4yRzAmhFiw
— ANI (@ANI) December 1, 2025
Some of the Congress' allies, including Priyanka Chaturvedi from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena group, have come out to bat for the under-fire party. "The National Herald charges are nothing but a political witch hunt... a tool the BJP applies time to time to attack opposition voices. Shame that agencies continue to bend backwards to please political masters."
READ | Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Charged With Criminal Conspiracy In National Herald Case
Several BJP leaders, including Chugh, have responded by accusing the Congress of large-scale corruption. "Congress under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi is in a state of panic, frustration, and outcry over National Herald. This is unfortunate. Freedom fighters' money was openly looted... corruption has been done..." Chugh declared.
#WATCH | Delhi | On a new FIR registered in the National Herald Case, BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh says, "Congress under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi is in a state of panic, frustration and outcry over National Herald. This is unfortunate. Freedom… pic.twitter.com/beYfeQzaXx
— ANI (@ANI) December 1, 2025
Meanwhile, the party's main X handle posted a 150-second video tom-tomming the allegations against the opposition leaders and pointing out that no court, thus far, had ruled in their favour.
"A scandal that refuses to die..." the X post screamed.
𝐀 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐞 — 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩!
— BJP (@BJP4India) November 30, 2025
The National Herald case has erupted once again, with a fresh FIR against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and top Congress figures on charges of criminal conspiracy,… pic.twitter.com/oZSFXeLpiA
"The ED attached assets of AJL (Associated Journals Limited, the company that owned the National Herald newspaper) and Young Indian (the company that later acquired it) ... exposing how a public institution built by freedom fighters was turned into a private real-estate empire."
The charges were filed on Sunday as part of a fresh First Information Report against six people, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, by the Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police.
What is The National Herald?
The National Herald, founded by Jawaharlal Nehru and others in 1938, was a newspaper owned and published by AJL. The newspaper - regarded as the Congress' mouthpiece - went offline in 2008 with debts of Rs 90.21 crore, but it retained real estate assets then worth an estimated Rs 2,000 crore. These, the ED has claimed, are now worth Rs 5,000 crore.
What is The National Herald case?
In November 2012 the BJP's Subramanian Swamy filed a private complaint alleging Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and other senior Congress leaders had fraudulently taken over AJL; he claimed the Congress leaders had taken over the Rs 2,000 crore in properties for a mere Rs 50 lakh. These included the Herald House in Delhi and properties in Mumbai's Bandra..
These alone are worth, reportedly, a combined Rs 661 crore.
NDTV Explains | The Congress, A Newspaper, And That Rs 90 Crore Loan
There are also allegations AJL had been using these properties - given by the union government of the time to only to run its newspaper operations - for commercial purposes. In other words, AJL had allegedly been getting rent worth lakhs of rupees.
These 'proceeds of crime', are worth Rs 998 crore, the ED has claimed.
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