ED: Congress Leaders Donated Lakhs to Rahul, Sonia Gandhi-Led Young Indian Company
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday revealed that multiple senior Congress leaders made large donations—allegedly under instructions—to Young Indian Limited, a company controlled by Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi and central to the ongoing National Herald money laundering investigation.
In a detailed chargesheet filed with a Delhi court, the ED claimed that Young Indian Limited acquired assets worth ₹2,000 crore from Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), the publisher of the National Herald, for just ₹50 lakh. The ED alleges the transaction enabled the Gandhi family to gain control over valuable real estate and funds.
According to the agency, donations were made in lakhs and crores by senior leaders between 2022 and 2023. These include Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy (then MLA), Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, his brother MP DK Suresh, and Punjab politician Amit Vij.
The ED claims that:
- Four Telangana Congress leaders donated over ₹80 lakh in June 2022 alone.
- DK Shivakumar and DK Suresh together gave ₹50 lakh in April 2022. Shivakumar’s trust, the National Education Trust, donated an additional ₹2 crore.
- Punjab leader Amit Vij donated ₹3.3 crore in three separate transactions.
“These donations were made under the direction of senior party figures like Pawan Bansal and Revanth Reddy,” the chargesheet alleges.
During court proceedings this week, ED officials claimed that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi personally benefited from proceeds of crime amounting to ₹142 crore. The agency estimates the total proceeds of crime in the case to be ₹988 crore.
The ED has now formally named Sonia Gandhi as Accused No. 1 and Rahul Gandhi as Accused No. 2 under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), along with five other individuals.
The Congress Party has yet to issue an official response following the ED’s revelations.
The National Herald case has long dogged the Congress Party, stemming from accusations of misuse of party funds and misappropriation of real estate assets across Delhi and other cities. Young Indian Limited was created in 2010, with Sonia and Rahul Gandhi reportedly holding 76% stake between them. The ED began investigating the matter in 2014, and in recent years, the probe has intensified.
