Rahul Gandhi demands Piyush Goyal's resignation over alleged involvement in Flashnet scam

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused Union minister Piyush Goyal of being involved in a 'Flashnet scam' and demanded his resignation.

Gandhi lashed out at the mainstream media for not covering the story of Goyal’s scam and termed the silence of journalists a “tragedy” for India.

“Piyush Goyal’s, 48 CR. Flash Net Scam is about deceit, conflict of interest and greed. The evidence is on the table. Yet, the media will not touch the story. It is a tragedy for our country when journalists entrusted to stand for the truth, will not speak,” the Congress president tweeted with a #GoyalMustResign.

Along with his tweet, Gandhi also shared a picture alleging the Railways Minister of selling his stock of Flashnet Info Solutions to Piramal group, which had interests in power sector when Goyal was the Minister of State for Power.

Rahul also claimed that post the sale of his stocks, Goyal made no changes in his assets declaration file with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

Earlier last week, the Congress had alleged that Goyal and his wife sold the their entire stocks of Flashnet Info Solutions to Piramal Estates for an “astronomical price” of Rs 9,586 per share totalling Rs 48 crore, or 1,000 times the book value.

This was not the first time that the allegations of corruption surfaced against Goyal. Earlier, his name was associated with the loan default scam by Mumbai-based Company Shirdi Industries. Goyal was the chairman of the company until 2010.

Meanwhile, hitting back at the Congress president, Goyal said that unlike him, he was a 'Kaamdar' (worker) and was professional Chartered Accountant & investment banker.

"Till 26th May 2014, before I became a Minister, I was a professional Chartered Accountant & investment banker. Unlike you, Mr Rahul Gandhi, I have not learnt well the art of living without working. I am also a kaamdaar (worker) and not a naamdaar (dynast)," Goyal retorted.