The Congress on Saturday hit out at the BJP and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to dismiss four Union ministers. But why Congress wants such action from PM Modi? Congress on Saturday cited a news report done by a portal The Wire and alleged that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu, Ministers of State Jayant Sinha (civil aviation) and M J Akbar (external affairs), besides BJP general secretary Ram Madhav are among the directors of an NGO. The name of this NGO is India Foundation and it is run by National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval’s son Shaurya. Calling it a case of conflict of interest, which comes under the ambit of office of profit, Congress asked PM Modi to dismiss the four Union ministers.
Addressing the media at the Congress headquarters in Delhi, party veteran Kapil Sibal said, “How can these ministers be directors? It is a direct conflict of interest.”
Reacting to the allegations by Congress, Shaurya Doval, the director of the NGO, called the report without basis, speculative, and intended to insinuate wrong-doing where there is none. “The directors concerned have been associated with India Foundation long before they became Ministers or even Members of Parliament,” Shaurya Doval added.
The organisation also denied receiving any foreign funding from any overseas private corporation or individual and said the foundation and its directors have not furthered the commercial or private interests of any company, domestic or foreign.
The Congress’ demand of dismissing four ministers came after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi, “Shah-zada ki apaar safalta ke baad, BJP ki nayi peshkash — Ajit Shaurya gatha (After the ‘grand success’ of ‘Shah- Zada’, BJP’s new presentation — the tale of Ajit Shaurya).”
The report in ‘The Wire’, a news portal, alleged that Doval’s son has a prospect of conflict of interest in running the think-tank, India Foundation.