National Herald example of vilification campaign against Cong: Digvijaya Singh

New Delhi: Calling the National Herald case an example of vilification of the Congress by the ruling party, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of running a `sustained campaign` against the Nehruvian ideology."

"BJP RSS combine have always considered Nehruvian Ideology and Nehru Gandhi Family as biggest threat to their growth. They have run a sustained campaign against them. National Herald is another example of their vilification campaign against them," he said in a series of tweets.

"People of this Country would give them a fitting reply as they did earlier. Gandhi Nehruvian Ideology is ingrained in Indian Ethos," he added.

The National Herald newspaper was closely associated with India`s freedom struggle and the Indian National Congress till 2008. In January 2008, discussions about its closure began. On 1 April 2008, the paper`s editorial announced that it was temporarily suspending operations. Before its closure, the paper was being run by Associated Journals Limited (AJL).

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed the case in a local court in 2012. The trial court then issued summons to the two leaders among others in June 2014, but they approached the Delhi High Court seeking a stay.

On Monday this week, the high court refused to stay the summons, and asked all of the accused to appear for a hearing on December 19.The accused face allegations that they illegally acquired property worth Rs. 5,000 crore belonging to the National Herald newspaper.