Congress keeps up pressure on Goyal

The Congress on Monday kept up its attack on Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and demanded that he make public the report of the “independent” valuation of his company, Flashnet Info Solution Limited.

Party president Rahul Gandhi had raised the issue at a rally here on Sunday and said: “For the first time, a Power Minister had sold off his company to a power company, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi didn’t utter a word.”

The Congress alleged that not only was the company sold to the Piramal Group, which has interests in the power sector, but Mr. Goyal had not disclosed the sale in his declaration of assets submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office in 2014.

But the BJP strongly defended him and said the company was sold in July 2014, before the Ministers declared their assets.

“But the director’s report mentions that the shares of Seema Goyal [the Minister’s wife] and Mr. Goyal were transferred on September 29, 2014. And as per the company law, until the shares are transferred, the ownership rests with the original owners,” Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said at a press conference on Monday.

“How was Flashnet, with a net worth of ₹12.50 crore, valued at almost ₹50 crore within a few months? Why is Mr. Goyal shying away from making the valuation report public,” he asked.