BJP releases more of ‘Congress Files’ on coal scam, MF Husain

The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday released episode 3 of its series titled ‘Congress Files’, not so long after it released its second episode on Monday. While the latest episode focuses on the 2012 Coal Block Allotment Scam, the second one highlights the alleged extortion in the name of a painting and the promise of Padma Bhushan.

The third episode accuses the UPA government of being responsible for the 2012 scam. “When Manmohan Singh became PM for the second time, he had made several promises, but Congress’s scams made headlines back then,” the video message said. The episode claimed that India saw a loss of Rs 1,86,000 crore due to the scam.

“The most interesting part of this scam was that from 2004 to 2009, the coal department was under then PM Manmohan Singh and Shibu Soren. He was the same prime minister who worked on a remote control,” the video concluded.

In Episode 2, referring to a FATF report, the BJP highlighted former Yes Bank CEO Rana Kapoor’s statement to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in which he had claimed that he was pushed to buy an MF Husain painting from Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for ₹2 crore, and that he was promised Padma Bhushan – one of the country’s top civilian awards – in return.

The video quotes Rana Kapoor as saying that he was forced to write to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to buy the painting. He said the money in exchange for the painting was used for Sonia Gandhi’s treatment.

The BJP’s video features a “case study” that purportedly exposes corruption by the Gandhi family, citing the global watchdog on money laundering and terror financing, FATF.

The video claimed that the money was supposed to be used for former Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s treatment. Notably, Congress responded to these claims as “political vendetta” and questioned Rana Kapoor and the ED’s credibility.