The TNCC Trust and its properties have come under close scrutiny, thanks to the recent appointment of Motilal Vora and Kesavan as trustees in TNCC Trust. Motilal Vora is General Secretary (Administration) of All India Congress Committeee and Kesavan is the grandson of Rajaji, the first Governor General of independent India who was also former Chief Minister of Madras State (now Tamil Nadu). Kesavan also served as the Vice President of the Centre-run Rajiv Gandhi National institute of Youth Development at Sriperumbudur. These appointments have been following the exit of former Union Ministers and senior leaders Jayanti Natarajan and GK Vasan from the Congress, who had been the trustees of this TNCC Trust. They were among the five other trustees of the TNCC trust, along with Elangovan, Sudarsana Natchiappan, and former Congress MLA Yasoda D.
What is the controversy about?
The TNCC Trust was formed by journalist Ramnath Goenka and former CM K. Kamaraj after the Avadi Congress in 1958. The proceeds made to the trust were used for buying properties which were meant to be to be used for public charitable activities.
Thuglak Editor S. Gurumurthy in a series of explosive tweets on this issue said that a scam was brewing over the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee’s charitable trust.
He pointed out that that the appointment of Motilal Vora and Kesavan as trustees of TNCC Trust by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi went against the provisions of the Trust Deed. The Trust deed mandates that the trustees shall be appointed by the Working Committee of the TNCC.
Gurumurthy alleged that it is an attempt by the Gandhi family to exercise its control over the properties held by TNCC Trust that is worth several thousand crores. He also alleged that the trust was now being controlled by Kanishk Singh, considered to Rahul Gandhi’s right hand.
Gurumurthy noted that this could potentially be a scam which is 10 times more intense than the National Herald scam. His questioned the former trustee members, asking them what they were doing about this issue.
In an article carried by The Hindu, Mr. Gurumurthy had told that the Trust’s properties are worth ₹15,000-₹20,000 crore “I am told that they were also trying to build a multi-storey building on the Mount Road property (Teynampet Congress grounds). Now I understand work has been given to an architect in Mumbai. The builder is from Chennai.”
Mr. Gurumurthy said the party has entered into an MoU to give 40% of the property to a builder and 60% to the Congress with five floors for unnamed persons.
TNCC members, and the Trust, however, claim that this plan was mooted by the late GK Moopanar and his colleagues, only to be later dropped. These members who are lifetime trustees of the TNCC have said that the trust property cannot be used for anything other than what is mentioned in the Trust Deeds, which include charitable activities like education and medical grants.
Sadly, GK Vasan, Sudarsana Natchiappan, and Jayanti Natarajan had left to revive the Tamil Maanila Congress Party and claimed that there was no interference whilst they had been serving their tenure at the Trust and that they had no knowledge of what had happened after they had left the party.
E.M. Sudarsana Nachiappan, who is one of the lifetime trustees of the Trust, said all the Trustees are appointed by the Executive Committee of the TNCC. “Even Motilal Vohra was nominated by the executive committee. AICC has no role in the nominations and audited statements are given every year,” he said.
He further added that Gurumurthy’s claims about the building being converted to a multi story complex was not true, and that the property of the trust is not to be used for anything other than charitable activities. He went on to call the allegations baseless and without proof.
President of TNCC K. S. Alagiri also came to the defence against the charges made by Mr. Gurumurthy, saying trustees of the TNCC Charitable Trust were nominated by the Executive Committee of the party in 2015 as per the trust deed.
Su. Thirunavakkarasar also went on to say that the appointments were made according to the trust deed.
Contradicting claims and reports
In contrast to the claims made by Alagiri, Sudarsana Nachiappan, Thirunavakkarasar, The Hindu report of 2015 notes that the appointment of Motilal Vora and Kesavan came as a surprise to TNCC. The Hindu report also added that “Sonia Gandhi took a surprise decision to appoint Vora and Kesavan.
Apart from The Hindu, multiple media reports of Economic Times, Business Standard, etc stated that the appointment of Motilal Vora and Kesavan was made by Sonia Gandhi.
Why this is fishy
This is not the first time that the Congress party has been embroiled in something of this scale. Rahul Gandhi and his mother Congress chief Sonia Gandhi are accused of misappropriating funds in the National Herald case both of whom are out on bail. This TNCC scam is coming to be seen as a repeat of the National Herald case.
This is not just an issue of a lack of authority on Sonia’s hands to appoint trustees of TNCC but is an attempt to grab the properties of TNCC and exercise control over it which is meant to be used for public charitable activities like education.
Gurumurthy in a tweet said that all trustees were summoned to meet Rahul Gandhi in 2009 & instructed them to “sign something”.
TN BJP President Dr. L. Murugan in a tweet said that the TNCC Trust entered into an agreement with Skyhigh Builders and Heeral Constructions Pvt Ltd for development of the property situated at Congress grounds.
Senior Journalist R. Rajagopalan had said that Rahul Gandhi had sought to build a 7 star hotel in Teynampet Congress grounds through a Mumbai builder.
Gurumurthy also asked if the TNCC pays rent to Sathyamurthy Bhavan which belongs to the TNCC trust and not the party. The twenty-ground property if it is to be let out for rent or lease could fetch a value of at least several lakhs per month, at ₹100/square feet. Gurumurthy had said that he ‘reliably understood’ from insiders of TNCC, that there is a high chance of the party not even paying the rent for Sathyamurthy Bhavan that is to go for TNCC Trust. If it is found to be true, it would amount to breach of trust and the trust could lose tax exemption.
The TNCC and its president have denied all the allegations levelled and brushed it off saying that Mr. Gurumurthy is trying to sow seeds of doubts in the minds of people in the follow up to elections. However, they haven’t given a satisfactory answer to the irregularities pointed out. There is a high probability that the it could be a Tamil Nadu version of the National Herald scam.