BJYM burns Rahul’s effigy over National Herald issue

The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) staged a protest today against the ongoing National Herald controversy and burned the effigy of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.

During the protest, BJYM leader Sushil alleged that the Congress-ruled state Chief Ministers were providing funds to the National Herald under the guise of advertisemets rather than through donations. He questioned the rationale behind these advertisements, pointing out that the newspaper was not even in circulation at the time.

Sushil furhter alleged that instead of waiving the debts of 1000 shareholders of Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the Congress formed a new company whose shareholders were two former Congress presidents. He claimed that this new company acquired a loan of Rs 90 crore for just Rs 50 lakh, thereby gaining control of properties worth Rs 2000 crore. “The mere mention of National Herald sends panic, discomfort, and restlessness through the Congress ranks, because their leaders have been caught red-handed in corruption,” he remarked.

Sushil added that National Herald, founded by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1938, failed to sustain itself over time. In 2008, efforts were made to revive it by bringing AJL under a new entity, ‘Young Indian’, with 76 per cent ownership held by one family.

Kumar further claimed that Congress provided Rs 50 lakh to set up Young Indian with the aim of taking over AJL. At that time, AJL had a debt of about Rs 90 crore owed to the Congress, while its assets were valued at around Rs 2000 crore. In return for the Rs 50 lakh investment, Young Indian acquired control of AJL’s assets and the Congress waived off the the remaining Rs 89.5 crore debt.