Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], April 17 : Madhya Pradesh Minister Vishvas Sarang on Thursday criticized the Congress party for protesting against the Directorate of Enforcement's (ED) action in the National Herald case, emphasizing that no one is above the law, regardless of their family background or political status.
Sarang questioned whether being born in the Nehru family grants immunity from corruption allegations, highlighting that the allegations involving Congress and the Nehru family in the National Herald case are now public.
Speaking to ANI, Sarang said, "If anyone is born in the Nehru family, do they get a certificate for committing corruption? Should the investigating agencies not take action against you if you are born in the Nehru family? The allegations of corruption involving Congress and the Nehru family in the National Herald case are now in the public domain. The matter came to light in 2012; at that time, we were not in power. But if you commit corruption, no matter how big a person you are, you will come under the purview of the law."
The ED filed a prosecution complaint against Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and others in the National Herald case, with the matter listed for arguments on cognisance in the Delhi Rouse Avenue Court on April 25.
Sarang also pointed out a separate National Herald-related land scam in Bhopal, where land allocated for a newspaper was sold to a mall owner, terming it "direct corruption".
"We are even witnessing a matter of the National Herald in Bhopal itself. In 1981, the then state Chief Minister Arjun Singh had given land to the National Herald to run the newspaper. The publication in the newspaper lasted for three to four years, after which the land was sold to a mall owner. Direct corruption is visible, and its lease was cancelled in 2011," he said.
The minister emphasised that if the lease is renewed, Congress and the Nehru family would have to pay approximately Rs 700 crores to the Bhopal Development Authority (BDA).
"On the one hand, the way the Waqf lands have been unnecessarily occupied. Similarly, the Nehru family has arranged for their luxury and comfort by taking undue possession of the land of National Herald," Sarang added.
Notably, Congress has launched massive protests nationwide against the central government and investigative agencies.