Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has sharply criticized Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi over their involvement in the Young India issue, raising questions about their actions and the timing of the case. Puri, in a scathing remark, said, "Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi hold 38% each in Young India. 38 into 2 is 76, you are holding 76%, and now you are calling it political vendetta, and saying agencies are used. I question why agencies were not involved before?"
Puri continued to challenge their narrative, highlighting the long-running legal battle and the Congress party's handling of the issue. He said, "They will never accept their mistake — so what will they do? 'No, no, that was just a statement by Kharge ji... that newspaper had great historical importance... then it shut down, and we tried to revive it.' Kharge ji, do one thing — just give us a list of all the efforts you made to revive the newspaper after it shut down in 2008. Just tell us that much."
Addressing the ongoing legal proceedings, Puri elaborated on the timeline of events. "These premises were re-entered on 30th October 2018. AJL filed a writ petition in Delhi High Court against re-entry order. Then in 2019, AJL filed LPA against the order of Delhi High Court. So, they kept going to the courts, kept going to the courts. Finally, now, this matter is coming to a fruition. So, the question arises, why was it done now? Is it Vendetta? I ask this question, why did it take so long?" Puri questioned.
The Union Minister further pointed out the historical context of the case, stating, "This case has been ongoing since 2014, going from one court to another. Sometimes it’s delayed because lawyers are unavailable or for other reasons — but this matter has been active since 2014." Puri also delved into the financial details of Young India Limited, saying, "Young Indian Limited was incorporated as a Section 25 company under the Companies Act of 1956, intended for charitable purposes, with a paid-up capital of ₹5 lakhs. This happened in 2010. Now if they (Congress) say that the party had given loans and those loans had ballooned to around ₹90 crores, and they needed to recover those, what did they do next? They acquired assets worth ₹2,000 crores for ₹50 lakhs."
