BJP youth wing demands clarification from Congress on party's links with Zakir Naik

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) workers on Monday staged a protest against the Congress party for allegedly accepting a donation from Zakir Naik's NGO through the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.

A file photo of Zakir Naik. Reuters

It also sought clarification from the party on its relation with Naik's NGO — Islamic Research Foundation (IRF).

Hundreds of supporters of BJYM, the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) protested outside the office of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) for it allegedly receiving Rs 50 lakh donation from IRF in 2011.

The supporters were detained by the Delhi Police and taken to the Parliament Street Police Station.

BJYM Delhi unit's Vice President Impreet Singh Bakshi told IANS: "The Congress leaders must clear their stand why the party received money from Naik's NGO."

"Congress President (Sonia Gandhi), Vice President (Rahul Gandhi) and Priyanka Gandhi must explain what they did with the money from 2011 till July 2016," he added.

The BJYM protesters asked Sonia to clarify her "party's relation with Naik".

On Saturday, Union Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad had alleged that RGF, chaired by Sonia, had taken the donation and termed it a "bribe".

Meanwhile, Congress spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala had countered the allegations saying that the money was not given to the RGF but to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT).