Jay Shah row: BJP tries to fend off dogged Cong

With TheWire ‘exposing’ the rising business fortunes of BJP chief Amit Shah’s son after the party assumed power in 2014, the ruling party on Monday filed a defamation suit against the online news portal, while it found itself under attack from the Congress.

With his tongue firmly in cheek, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi made use of “ shahzada (the prince)” — a term Amit Shah uses to refer to him derisively — to attack both the BJP chief, his son Jay Shah, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He tweeted: “ Modiji, Jai Shah-Jada kha gaya. Aap chowkidar the ya bhagidar? Kuch to boliye. (Modi ji , Jai, the prince of Amit Shah, gobbled up. Were you the protector or collaborator? Say something)”.

The Congress asked Prime Minister Modi to remove Shah as BJP President and demanded a probe into claims in the news report. Former Union Minister Anand Sharma wondered if Cabinet Ministers like Piyush Goyal, who held a press briefing on the issue on Sunday, had become “spokespersons and business managers” for the BJP chief’s son, who is a private individual.

Defending his actions, Goyal said on Monday: “This article has, through innuendo using my picture and the picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, tried to damage reputation and defame our party and the government. They are trying to create a slant and damage reputation and we are within out rights to challenge that.”

Union Textiles Minister Smriti denied that Jay Shah had engaged in anything illegal. “Jay Shah’s business is perfectly legitimate and legal. TDS is paid, loans are repaid and company closed after losses. Does this reek of cronyism? Instead of seeking answers on 80 crores of transactions that are within the purview of the law, it would be more prudent for the Congress to give an account for the more than 80 scams and the ₹1.8 lakh crore that India lost due to corruption and cronyism of successive Congress governments.”

In Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Sidharth Nath Singh rose to defend his party chief’s son. “Rahul Gandhi should step out of his diapers,” said Sidharth Nath Singh. “He tweeted that Jay Shah was the only beneficiary of demonetisation. Jay Shah wound up his business in October, 2016, so how could he have benefited from demonetisation,” said Singh.

On Sunday, the BJP had issued a detailed statement, contradicting the facts of the news item and attacking the journalist and the website that published the story. On Monday, while there was no written statement and sparse on-record quotes, the party still kept punching holes on the contents of the story.

BJP spokespersons and ministers answered various queries related to the propriety of Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta defending Jay Shah on the news report which alleges a windfall for his business venture Temple Enterprises Pvt Ltd and a loan of ₹10.35 crore from public sector enterprise IREDA given to a company in which Jay Shah is a partner.

On the loan given to a company with no prior expertise or background in renewable energy, a minister said, “The loan was disbursed nine months after he (Jay Shah) applied for it and due procedure was followed. The IREDA has given 2,000 loans in wind energy sector. More such loans will be disbursed to people who have no prior experience because renewable energy is a new field and obviously, people will take time to gain experience. This is what we mean by Start-up India, to encourage young entrepreneurs to set up businesses.”

On the question of the country’s top law officer defending a private individual, BJP spokespersons said, “There is no bar on government law officers defending private individuals if due permission has been sought.” On a specific question about Tushar Mehta getting due permission on October 6, even before the news item appeared in the website, the BJP sources said, “This is how efficiently and like a family the BJP works. Permission was sought and granted. Where is the illegality in that?”