New Delhi : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday alleged that senior Congress leaders were directed to donate large sums to Young Indian Limited, a company controlled by Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi and linked to the National Herald case. In its chargesheet, the agency further claimed that Rahul and Sonia Gandhi were beneficiaries of the funds transferred to Young Indian under the guise of donations.
According to the ED, Young Indian Limited allegedly acquired assets worth Rs 2,000 crore from Associated Journals Ltd, the publisher of the National Herald newspaper, for just Rs 50 lakh. The transaction has prompted allegations of misappropriation and money laundering. A significant portion of these questionable transactions has been traced back to Telangana. Acting on the alleged instructions of then-MLA and current Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, four Congress leaders donated over Rs 80 lakh to Young Indian in 2022.
Among them, Gali Anil Kumar, who contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, reportedly donated Rs 20 lakh in June 2022. Former MLA Ali Shabbir also contributed Rs 20 lakh, while then Telangana Congress Treasurer P Sudarshan donated Rs 15 lakh. The largest amount, Rs 25 lakh, came from the then Working President of the Telangana Congress. The ED’s investigation also points to similar donation patterns in Karnataka and Punjab.
According to sources, veteran Congress leader Pawan Bansal allegedly instructed Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar and his brother, MP DK Suresh, to contribute Rs 25 lakh each in April 2022. In the same month, a trust linked to Shivakumar, the National Education Trust, donated a staggering Rs 2 crore to Young Indian. In Punjab, Amit Vij, who contested the Assembly elections, donated Rs 3.30 crore in three separate tranches in 2015.
“The pattern, timing, and coordination of these donations suggest a systematic effort to inject funds into Young Indian using party loyalists and state-level leaders,” a senior ED official told. The agency is expected to summon several of the individuals involved for questioning in the coming weeks, even as it prepares to file supplementary evidence in court. The Congress party has so far maintained that the case is politically motivated and that all financial transactions were lawful.