New Delhi: The BJP on Tuesday, February 3, cited a claim of a former Haryana Congress leader’s husband to allege that the Gandhi family tried to “extort” Rs 7 crore from the couple in exchange for an assembly election ticket in the state.

BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari claimed that Gaurav Kumar, husband of a former Haryana Women Congress general secretary, has made public WhatsApp chats involving personal assistants of senior Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. He described the chats as “prima facie proof” of the Gandhi family’s “corruption”.

Bhandari, however, did not disclose the name of the former Haryana Women Congress leader or clarify whether the allegation pertained to the 2024 assembly polls in the state.

There was no immediate reaction from the Congress to the BJP charge.

Speaking to reporters at the BJP headquarters here, Bhandari alleged, “For the past few days, the country has been discussing how the Gandhi-Vadra family is compromised and corrupt.

“Today, we are presenting before you a prima facie proof of corruption by Priyanka Vadra, Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.”

He claimed that Kumar has brought to light how the Gandhi family tried to extort Rs 7 crore from the couple in exchange for giving his wife a party ticket from the Bawal assembly seat.

“At a press conference, he (Gaurav Kumar) made public WhatsApp chats with the PAs (personal assistants) of Priyanka Vadra, KC Venugopal and K Suresh, exposing how the Gandhi family used Venugopal as a front to extort money from the former general secretary of Haryana Women Congress,” Bhandari said.

The Gandhi family has maintained silence on the issue, which is nothing but an “admission of guilt” by them, the BJP spokesperson charged.