New Delhi:
As Congress allegation of the government “surrendering” India to China has intensified, the BJP has hit back with a strong political allegation — that the Chinese are funding the Congress. The BJP has accused the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation of receiving donations from the Chinese embassy in India. The party alleges that these donations were made in 2005-06.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is the chairperson of the RGF and its board has Dr Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi, P Chidambaram and Priyanka Gandhi.
The BJP alleged that according to the annual report of 2005-06, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation received a donation from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China. The donation was included in the list of general donors.
“Did the then UPA government take a bribe from the Chinese? Is it not true that after taking this donation, the foundation recommended a free trade agreement with China, which was heavily tilted in favour of the Chinese,” Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
Mr Prasad also accused the then UPA government of not mentioning this donation anywhere in the government records. “The Congress must answer that if they took money from the Chinese embassy, how was this money put to use?” he said.
The BJP also targeted the Gandhi family last week for meeting with Chinese officials and “having a secret pact”. The party referred to an image that showed Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in a meeting with Chinese embassy officials in 2008.
