BJP Kerala president lashes out at Cong, Rahul Gandhi on Munambam, National Herald case

Kochi | BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Wednesday lashed out at the Congress and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, by accusing them of engaging in a politics of corruption, lies and appeasement.

Chandrasekhar made the accusation by referring to the Congress stand on the amended Waqf Act and the Munambam issue as well as the recent Enforcement Directorate (ED) move against senior party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in connection with the National Herald case.

Speaking at a press conference here, he alleged that the Congress party and its MPs, including those from Kerala, were never concerned with the plight of the Munambam residents, mostly Christians, as they were smaller in number and were more interested in protecting the Muslim vote bank "which props up their dynasty".

The Munambam residents have been agitating for the past several months against the Waqf Board's allegedly unlawful claim on their land and properties, despite them having registered deeds and land tax payment receipts.

Chandrasekhar alleged that the Congress and its MPs who claim to protect and respect the Constitution were opposing the amendments aimed at removing the unconstitutional provisions in the Waqf Act as part of their politics of appeasement.

The former union minister also referred to the National Herald case and said it was another example of the "double standards, lies and corruption politics that the Congress party has become famous for".

He also referred to Rahul Gandhi as a "desperate dynast" and said that the laws of justice will catch up with him and his family in the National Herald case.

The ED had on Tuesday said it filed a chargesheet on April 9 in a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper. Besides Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, the chargesheet names Congress leaders Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey as co-accused.

The case, based on a 2014 complaint by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, relates to the alleged acquisition of properties worth over Rs 2,000 crore by Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the publisher of National Herald, and their subsequent transfer to Young Indian, a company in which both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi each hold a 38 per cent stake.

Chandrasekhar also alleged that the Congress renamed its alliance from the earlier UPA to the INDIA bloc now as it was "ashamed" of the "scams" that occurred during the UPA regime.

He also hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over her recent statement that the Waqf Act will not be implemented in her state, contending that "she lives in an alternate universe".

Chandrasekhar further alleged, "She thinks she is the queen or princess of some land and she will speak whatever she wants to. She can continue to live in whatever La La Land she wants to, we have no reason to stop her."