Sonia must tell RGF-China truth; Kamal Nath really 'Kalank' Nath: MP CM Shivraj

Attacking the Congress party over the 'RGF scam', Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday said that the people of India want to know why did the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation "take money" from China.

He also dubbed his predecessor and senior Congress leader Kamal Nath "Kalank Nath" (disgrace), saying he had favoured China by his actions as Union commerce minister in the erstwhile UPA government.

'Congress should apologise to the country'

"The country wants to know why Rajiv Gandhi Foundation took money from China? Sonia Gandhi will have to tell the country the truth. They get donations from China and do an MoU with the Chinese Communist Party. They should apologise to the country. Congress does not even have the right to speak in the matter of protecting the country," Chouhan said while addressing virtual 'Jan Samvad' rally in Chhattisgarh from Bhopal.  

"In 2005-06, China gave a donation of Rs 90 lakh to Congress. Does Congress have any shame? At that time, the chairperson of the Congress was Sonia Gandhi," he added.

"Kamal Nath is also a friend of China. When he was commerce and industry minister, he had slashed import duty which had allowed China to dump their goods in India and to loot our country. He is not Kamal Nath, he is 'Kalank' Nath," Chouhan said.

The Chief Minister also blamed Nath for "doing nothing" when the latter was at the helm in Madhya Pradesh before March this year. "Nath was busy with preparations for holding an IIFA awards event," he alleged.

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Chouhan also slammed the state government in Chhattisgarh and stated that the state's initials CG signified "credible growth" when Raman Singh was the state's Chief Minister, but today's CG signifies "chaotic governance".

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Congress faces serious accusations

BJP raised that Congress-backed RGF had received a donation of Rs.90 lakh from the Chinese Embassy in India in 2006-07. While Congress president Sonia Gandhi is the chairperson of the trust, senior party leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, Dr.Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra serve as trustees.

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BJP president JP Nadda shared documents to show that the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund money had been donated to the RGF. Terming this as a "brazen fraud", Nadda contended that one family's hunger for wealth had cost India immensely. While the Congress party has admitted that an MoU was signed with CPC, it is yet to respond on the allegations pertaining to the controversial donations to the RGF.

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(With agency inputs)