PM Cares fund received funds from Chinese firms, says Cong
NEW DELHI: The Congress on Sunday hit back at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for raising the issue of funding of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, alleging that the PM Cares Fund was accepting donations from Chinese firms when the armies of the two countries were engaged in a border standoff in Ladakh.
Addressing a virtual news conference, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his “18 meetings” with Chinese President Xi Jinping in last six years and asked why he has not yet called China “an aggressor”. “I implore the Prime Minister to say China is an aggressor,” he said.
“What is most worrying and alarming for national security is the fact of donations received by Prime Minister Modi from the Chinese companies in his (seemingly personal) PM CARES Fund,” he added.
“If the Prime Minister will compromise his position by accepting donations of hundreds of crores from Chinese companies in the controversial and opaque fund, how will he defend the country against the Chinese aggression? Prime Minister Modi needs to answer,” Singhvi said.
Over the past few days, the Bharatiya Janata Party has released details of contributions made to RGF by various stateowned companies, government departments, and the Chinese embassy. RGF is a private trust while the PM CARES Fund was set up in March this year to deal with any emergency arising due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Singhvi said reports suggest the PM CARES Fund has received ~9,678 crore by May 20. The Congress spokesperson alleged Huawei has donated ~7 crore, Tiktok ~30 crore, Paytm ~100 crore, Xiaomi ~15 crore and
Oppo ~1 crore to the fund. HT couldn’t ascertain this.
“Does Huawei have a direct connection with People’s Liberation Army, China? Has the Chinese company owning Tiktok facilitated a donation of ~30 crore to the controversial PM CARES Fund?” he asked.
Former finance minister P Chidambaram, too, targeted the government. “PM-CARES fund was set up on 28-03-2020. Chineseowned companies donated money from that date. Chinese troops began incursions into Ladakh in March-april 2020. Does it require great intelligence to discern China’s motives?”
BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said, “The Congress party, facing stinging criticism from the media and the public for acting as the Indian propaganda arm of China in lieu of apparent kickbacks received in Sonia Gandhi family run foundations, is evading answers ...instead has come up with silly counters.”