Dynastic Decay

Few political families have commanded as much reverence or wielded as much unchecked power as the Gandhis. For decades, the Congress party has wrapped itself in the cloak of sacrifice and legacy embodied by the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. But now, that cloak lies in tatters. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed its first chargesheet naming Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as accused numbers one and two in the National Herald money laundering case. It is a moment of reckoning not just for the family, but for the party itself.

The allegations are damning. According to the chargesheet, Sonia and Rahul orchestrated a “criminal conspiracy” to usurp real estate assets worth Rs. 2,000 crores (now estimated at over Rs. 5,000 crore) that belonged to Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), the erstwhile publisher of the now-defunct National Herald newspaper. The vehicle for this alleged act was a private firm, Young Indian Ltd (YIL), in which mother and son together hold a 76 percent stake. The ED charges that 99 percent of AJL’s shares were transferred to YIL for a mere Rs. 50 lakh - an astonishing undervaluation of what were essentially public assets held in trust.

If proven, this transfer was a brazen attempt to turn legacy into loot. While YIL was ostensibly a Section 25 not-for-profit company, the ED’s probe found no charitable activities, no philanthropic outreach and no justification for its existence other than the accumulation of ill-gotten property.

It is worth recalling that AJL was not an ordinary enterprise. Founded by Jawaharlal Nehru, it was a repository of the Congress party’s intellectual and journalistic legacy. What remains today is not a newspaper but a ghost company used to launder influence into asset ownership.

The properties in question, many located in prime urban zones, were meant to serve the public interest. Instead, they appear to have been quietly transferred into private hands, allegedly controlled by India’s most powerful political family.

The Gandhis, predictably, have denied all wrongdoing. So has the Congress party, which has rushed to cry vendetta politics. But that dog-eared script no longer convinces. To cry persecution in the face of legal scrutiny amounts to a cynical refusal to acknowledge the rot within.

The party’s slavish loyalty to its dynasts is troubling. That a party which once governed India for decades cannot summon the courage to debate internal leadership is a testament to its arrested evolution.

Therein lies the deeper malaise. The Congress is no longer a party of ideas or ideals. It is a family trust, run by a dynasty that demands loyalty in exchange for nostalgia. With this chargesheet, the Gandhis lose whatever moral claim they once had to righteousness. The Congress must stop mourning the loss of the old order and start building something new. If not for the country, then at least for its own survival. The Gandhis have had their turn. India deserves better. So does the Congress.