Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi have been asked to appear in a Delhi court to face allegations that they illegally acquired property worth Rs. 5,000 crore belonging to the National Herald newspaper.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished Congress president Sonia Gandhi a happy birthday early on Wednesday morning, as the BJP-led government continued to walk a fine line on the National Herald case.
"On her birthday, greetings to Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi. May Almighty bless her with long life & good health," PM Modi tweeted. Mrs Gandhi, who turns 69 today, also received a phone call from Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu to wish her.
The courtesies came as the government seeks to emphasise that it has nothing to do with a case in which
Sonia Gandhi and her son and deputy Rahul Gandhi have been ordered to appear in court to face allegations that they illegally acquired property worth Rs.5,000 crore belonging to the National Herald newspaper.
The petitioner in the case is the BJP's Subramanian Swamy, who has accused the Congress leaders of cheating.
Today's outreach is also seen as an attempt to mend the bridges burnt yesterday over the case as a furious Congress blocked all work in both houses of Parliament to protest against what it calls "persecution" of its leaders by a member of the ruling party.
Today too, the Congress forced repeated disruptions in both houses.Rahul Gandhi called it "political vendetta," and an
unusually aggressive Sonia Gandhi said, "I am the daughter-in-law of Mrs Indira Gandhi and I am not afraid of anybody or anything."
The BJP has carefully distanced itself from Mr Swamy saying the party has over 10 crore members in India and that the case was filed much before the NDA came to power. "A private complaint was lodged. The government had nothing to do with it," said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
Senior minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "Everything is before the court, the government has no role... The BJP would like to clarify we are not in the picture." But he also added that the Congress' response did not address the allegation against its leadership, which, according to him, was "prima facie a criminal breach of trust."
The new face-off threatens a delicate working relationship that was emerging with the main opposition party over the key reform measure, Goods and Services Tax Bill that the government must push through Parliament in the ongoing winter session.
The government needs the Congress' support for the constitutional amendment. The session ends on December 23.