‘Is it natural for Congress to deal with money launderers?’: Smriti Irani’s frontal attack on Rahul Gandhi.

NEWDELHI: BJP leader Smriti Irani launched a scathing attack on Congress leader Kapil Sibal and his party chief Rahul Gandhi, over allegations that Sibal may have purchased property in Delhi worth crores of rupees for throwaway prices from a known money launderer.

The allegations pertain to a report in partisan news website OpIndia, which pointed to investigative reports being prepared by a South African NGO into allegations of crony capitalism and a nexus between former South African President Jacob and Indian-origin businessmen, the Gupta Brothers.

The report had said Sibal and his wife purchased a company called Grande Castello, which owned property in Delhi worth about Rs 89 crore. The allegation of foul play is that the Sibals may have paid only Rs 1 lakh, which is the paid up capital of the company. The report also pointed to the involvement of a businessman named Piyoosh Goyal, who was being investigated by the CBI for money laundering.

Irani launched a broadside at the Congress over these allegations, focusing more on the ethics of it than the actual nuts and bolts of the allegations. “While people might say Mr Sibal has the right to buy and engage with a so-called, alleged money launderer, the question I would like to pose is, is this politically acceptable to Shri Rahul Gandhi?” she said.