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Hindustan Times
Hindustan Times
National
HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Modi wishes Sonia on birthday amid face-off over Herald case

Celebrations outside Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s residence in Delhi, on her Birthday. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday greeted Congress president Sonia Gandhi on her birthday, even as the two sides are locked in a bitter face-off over the National Herald Case.

“On her birthday, greetings to Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi. May Almighty bless her with long life & good health,” Modi tweeted early in the morning.

The gesture comes at a time the Congress has stalled Parliament over the cheating case against its leaders, with the fate of important economic legislation like the Goods and Services Tax bill hanging fire.

Sonia and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi have been asked to appear in a Delhi court to face charges that they “usurped” assets worth Rs 2,000 crore belonging to the now-defunct newspaper National Herald.

Rahul accused the government of “political vendetta” while finance minister Arun Jaitley said it had nothing with the private complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.

The BJP too distanced itself from the case, with minister Ravi Shankar Prasad clarifying that the party “was not in the picture.”

Over two days opposition members disrupted both houses of Parliament several times over the issue. With the session ending on December 23, the government urgently needs Congress cooperation for a constitutional amendment on the GST bill.

Watch | Supporters celebrate Sonia Gandhi’s 69th birthday outside residence

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