BJP welcomes decision to cancel FCRA licences of RGF, RGCT; says 'Gandhi family, its NGOs not above law'
The BJP welcomed the cancellation of the FCRA licences of two NGOs headed by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and said the Gandhi family and organisations linked to them can't be above law. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra also hit out at the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation for receiving donations from controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik
FollowThe Gandhi family and organisations connected to them cannot be above the law, the BJP said on Sunday in response to the FCRA's decision to revoke the licences of two NGOs led by the former president of the Congress, Sonia Gandhi.
Sambit Patra, a spokesman for the BJP, asserted that the home ministry's decision to revoke the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation's (RGF) and the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust's (RGCT) licences under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act due to suspected legal violations had "exposed" their wrongdoing.
Along with numerous individuals facing corruption accusations, including Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor, he criticised the RGF for taking money from the controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, the Chinese consulate, and the Chinese government during the time the Congress-led UPA was in office.
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He said that no one had the courage to take action against people like Naik, who is being investigated on accusations of terrorism and has fled India, while the UPA was in power. The Modi administration has operated in line with the law and the Constitution, he said.
In an apparent allusion to Rahul Gandhi's meeting with China's envoy at the time of the Doklam crisis, Patra said that the Gandhi family was inside the "Chinese tent" when the Indian Army was engaged in a standoff with Chinese soldiers. He asserted that Sonia Gandhi was operating the UPA administration and NGOs outside of what was required by the constitution and that she was doing so because numerous ministries and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) had given them large financial donations.
He emphasised that donations to the RGF came from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund, which was established to aid in accidents and catastrophes. Patra claimed that "the Gandhi family is present everywhere there is corruption."
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He claimed that these dynasties enjoyed the benefits of power without taking any duty or accountability. According to government sources, the two NGOs were targeted after an inter-ministerial committee set up by the MHA in 2020 looked into the matter. According to an official, "the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust have had their FCRA licences terminated after investigations against these NGOs."
Investigators looked into allegations of document manipulation during tax return filing, financial mismanagement, and money laundering while receiving payments from other nations, notably China.
(With PTI inputs)
