Chennai, Jul 20 (IANS): The Editor of Tamil political magazine Thuglak, S. Gurumurthy, on Monday asked the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) on the amount spent by the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee Charitable Trust (TNCCCT) on the objectives for which it was set up.
In a series of tweets, Gurumurthy said the noble objectives of the trust are welfare of the poor based on the ideology of Ahimsa; education of public in the field of agriculture, commerce, industry, literature and arts; promoting village and cottage industries; development of Khadi to improve the economic condition of masses; welfare of Dalits, backward classes; scholarships for poor students and establishing industrial homes for the unemployed to train them for self-employment.
"Will TNCC say what is the spending on these noble activities with properties with 1000s of crs on hand," Gurumurthy tweeted.
"TNCC Trust: Why I am asking these questions is because the Sonia Family is not keen about the objects. The only object is to grab the trust assets like NH. That what why like in NH Sonia has appointed Motilal Vora as trustee. Why Vora who can't even travel to Chennai," Gurumurthy added.
On Sunday, Gurumurthy had alleged that TNCC is not paying rent for its office, Sathyamurthy Bhavan, belonging to the TNCCCT.
"Tomorrow I will come out with what are the noble objects of the trust and how the trust has done everything other than promoting the objects for which it was established," Gurumurthy said on Sunday.
On Friday, Gurumurthy began his attack on the Congress by tweeting: "National Herald Scam II brewing. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee trust has properties worth 20K crore. Annual income in crores. Kanishk Singh, Rahul Gandhi's right-hand man, has taken over the trust documents and accounts. What are trustees like GK Vasan and Jayanthi Natarajan doing?"
On Saturday, he said TNCCCT trustees are appointed by Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi, citing news reports of the party appointing Motilal Vora and C.R. Kesavan as trustees in 2015.
Former state Congress chief S. Thirunavukkarasar on Sunday told IANS: "Gurumurthy has no proof for his allegations. The TNCCCT was created by late Congress leader and former Chief Minister K. Kamaraj to help the poor. What is Gurumurthy's interest in that? He wants to damage the image of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi."
Thirunavukkarasar said the TNCCCT renders financial assistance to the poor for studies and medical treatment, and to people during natural disasters.
"The trust has also donated sizeable funds to several reputed organisations involved in helping the poor. The wedding hall is let out to people at a lower rent," Thirunavukkarasar added.
On the issue of appointment of trustees, Thirunavukkarasar said: "The trustees are appointed by the TNCC Executive Committee. The Congress party's Tamil Nadu unit, the trust and the properties are part of the All India Congress Committee. There is nothing wrong in having a person from the central office as a trustee."
TNCC President K.S. Alagiri had said: "TNCC Executive Committee nominated Motilal Vora and C.R. Kesavan as trustees of TNCC Charitable Trust as per the trust deed in 2015. I strongly condemn the allegations which are malafide and politically motivated."