RGF got funds from China to Mehul Choksi: BJP

BJP, which has been facing a sustained attack from Congress on issues of Chinese incursion and its handling of Covid-19, mounted a fresh offensive against the main Opposition party, posing 10 questions including the alleged links of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation with China as well as Mehul Choksi.

“Some months back, we saw a huge hue and cry over Mehul Chokshi. The crown prince of Congress used the most obnoxious language for the PM. However, it has also come to light that Mehul Chokshi was also a donor for the RGF. Sonia Gandhi should answer, first take money from Mehul Chokshi, then help him with bank loans and then blame the present PM for his actions,” said BJP chief J P Nadda.

Rahul Gandhi had in 2018, launched a sustained campaign against the BJP government at Centre, accusing it of complicity in the multi-core PNB scam in which Choksi was accused.

As soon as in April this year when the RBI released a list of 50 wilful defaulters accused of cheating Indian banks, Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter saying “I asked a simple question in parliament – tell me the names of 50 biggest bank scammers. The Finance Minister refused to reply. Now RBI has put names of Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, and other BJP friends on the list. This is why they hid the truth from parliament.”

Nadda said Sonia Gandhi should not shy from answering the serious questions under the cover of border disputes with China and the coronavirus crisis, insisting “Gandhi family should answer for their sins”.

Alleging that national interest was “sacrificed” and donations into the family-run foundation were accepted, Nadda asked why countries like China donated to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation every year between 2005 and 2009.

Congress has repeatedly dismissed Nadda's attack on the RGF over alleged donations to it from the Chinese embassy and the Prime Minister National Relief Fund as a "diabolical game of deception" by the ruling party to divert attention from the alleged Chinese occupation of Indian territory. Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi would assure the country that China would vacate Indian territory and restore status quo ante at the border if the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation returned Rs 20 lakh it had taken as donation earlier.

Congress has said the money received by the RGF from the Embassy of China was for the purpose of a welfare programme for differently-abled people and research on Sino-India relationships.