The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) President KS Alagiri denied allegations made by Tughlak’s Editor S Gurumurthy alleged that a scam was brewing in the TNCC Charitable Trust. He asserted that the trustees of the TNCC Charitable Trust were nominated by the Executive Committee in 2015 as per the trust deed.
“TNCC Executive Committee nominated Motilal Vora and C.R.Kesavan as trustees of TNCC Charitable Trust as per trust deed in 2015. I strongly condemn the allegations which are malafide and politically motivated.” said KS Alagiri on Sunday.
In a series of tweets since Friday, Gurumurthy alleged irregularities in the appointment of Congress leaders Motilal Vora and CR Kesavan as the trustees of the TNCC Charitable Trust.
According to Gurumurthy, the TNCC Trust has property worth Rs 20,000 crore and the Congress party, its president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are trying to establish control over it. Gurumurthy alleged that though the trust deed said that the Trustees must be nominated by the Working Committee, she inducted Motilal Vora to the post of Trustee, violating the deed.
He also alleged that Rahul Gandhi’s right-hand man Kanishk Singh has taken over the control of the documents and accounts of the Trust. “Tamil Nadu congress committee trust has properties worth 20k crores. Annual income crs. Kanishk Singh Rahul Gandhi's right hand has taken over the trust documents and accounts. What are trustees like GK Vasan and Jayanthi Natarajan doing,” he alleged, calling it a “National Herald Scam II”.
National Herald Scam II brewing. Tamil Nadu congress committee trust has properties worth 20k crores. Annual income crs. Kanishk Singh Rahul Gandhi's right hand has taken over the trust documents and accounts. What are trustees like GK Vasan and Jayanthi Natarajan doing
— S Gurumurthy (@sgurumurthy) July 17, 2020
He further questioned if the party is paying rent for its premises Sathyamurthy Bhavan. “Is Congress party paying market rent (even rent) for Sathyamurthy Bhavan? Bhavan belongs to TNCC trust which is not for Congress but for poor, education etc. (More on it tomorrow) It is a 20 ground property. For building alone rent will be 100/ft. Several lacs pm (sic),” he tweeted. He claimed that his sources in the party said that the Congress allegedly does not pay rent to the TNCC Charitable Trust and that is a breach of trust, if true.
“I reliably understand from insiders that TNCC does not pay rent for Bhavan to TNCC trust. It is breach of trust, if true. The trust will lose tax exemption. TNCC must know Sathyamurthy Bhavan is not its property,” he tweeted.
S Gurumurthy’s allegation primarily is that the TNCC Charitable Trust, which was formed by former Tamil Nadu Chief MInister K Kamaraj, and has property worth Rs 20,000 crore is being ‘usurped’ by the Congress party, more particularly by the party President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi.
As per the deed of TNCC Charitable Trust, the trustees can be appointed only through the Executive Committee of TNCC. Motilal Vora, a senior partyman and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh was inducted into the TNCC Charitable Trust in 2015 by Congress President Sonia Gandhi. He was appointed after Union Minister Jayanthi Natarajan resigned. Gurumurthy alleges that this was done in order to facilitate the take over of the Trust’s property by the Gandhi family.
Gurumurthy also equated this to the National Herald case in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have been accused of misappropriating funds.
Su Thirunavukkarasar, on Saturday, denied Gurumurthy’s allegations vehemently. In an interview to The Hindu, he categorically said that ‘not a single paisa has been diverted’ from the Trust to anyone else.
He also said that Gurumurthy’s claims of Kanishk Singh taking over the Trust’s property is false and that nobody but the Trustees administer the Trust for providing education and other social welfare activities. Insisting that Motilal Vora was appointed by the Executive Committee as per the rules of the Trust, Thirunavukkarasar said that Sonia Gandhi did not have a role to play in it. He accused Gurumurthy of trying to sow seeds of doubt in the minds of people as elections are approaching.
Following Gurumurthy’s allegations, BJP State President L Murugan has called for an investigation into the allegations in the TNCC Charitable Trust.