Congress slams BJP over conflict of interest' report on Ajit Doval's son
New Delhi: The Congress today hit out at the BJP citing a news report which alleged a "prospect of conflict of interest" in National Security Adviser Ajit Doval's son Shaurya running an organisation that has Union Ministers on its board.
"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)," Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi, also referencing an earlier report on Amit Shah's son Jay Shah.
The report by news website The Wire has alleged that Mr Doval's son Shaurya Doval has a "prospect of conflict of interest" in running the think-tank India Foundation as he is a partner in a financial services firm. The think-tank has some top ministers as directors and it relies on financial support from foreign and Indian corporates some of which have dealings with the government.
"The India Foundation's opaque financials, the presence of senior ministers as directors and the fact that executive director Shaurya Doval's day job is running Gemini Financial Services -- a firm that specialises in 'transactions and capital flows between the OECD and the emerging Asian economies' -- also raise the prospect of conflict of interest and lobbying," the report said.
The Congress also demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should fire the four Union ministers who are directors in the organisation and demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter.
"Prime Minister Modi should fire all the four ministers who are on the board of the India Foundation. We want to ask Modiji when he will fire them," senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal told reporters.
In a response to the story published on the organisation's website, Shaurya Doval called the The Wire report baseless. "The article in question is speculative and clearly intends to insinuate wrongdoing where there is none. It takes a maleficent tone without any basis other than surmise," he said.
"The directors concerned have been associated with the India Foundation long before they became ministers or even members of Parliament," he added, denying it received funds from overseas and that its directors have "furthered the commercial or private interests of any company".
