Congress peddling “lies and falsehoods” to lower the morale of armed forces, BJP MP alleged. (File)

New Delhi:

The BJP on Friday accused the Congress of advancing Chinese propaganda and peddling “lies and falsehoods” to lower the morale of armed forces, as it hit back at the opposition party after Sonia Gandhi asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take the nation into confidence on the border situation in Ladakh.

BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao raised the issue of alleged donation from the Chinese embassy to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) when the Congress-led UPA was in power and said the Congress has not been able to offer any explanation to people on this extremely “shocking and damaging revelation”.

“The Congress has not been able to offer any explanation to people of this country who have been wondering why the Congress is betraying India’s interest by acting as a propaganda arm of China,” Mr Rao said in a statement.

“Rather than answer such serious questions, the Gandhi family is continuing to blabber lies and falsehoods to lower the morale of armed forces and to advance Chinese propaganda,” he alleged.

BJP president JP Nadda on Thursday claimed that the RGF received Rs 90 lakh donation from the Chinese embassy when the UPA was in power and the foundation was headed by Sonia Gandhi, the Congress president.

Reacting to the charge, the Congress in turn accused the BJP of resorting to “diversionary” tactic when the country wanted to know answers on the issue of the Chinese transgression into Indian border.

Mr Rao noted that the prime minister has already asserted that “not an inch of Indian territory” is under Chinese occupation.

“The prime minister has unambiguously and categorically stated that not an inch of Indian territory is under Chinese occupation. The only surrender is by the Gandhi family and the Congress who have surrendered their integrity and loyalty to India by acting as a PR firm of China,” he said.

The BJP MP alleged that the RGF accepting donation from the Chinese embassy is a “clinching proof of monitory links and financial benefits” received by the family-run foundation. “In any country, such acts of financial misdemeanour will be treated as an act of treason,” he added.

The manner in which the Gandhi family “subverted” institutions and “plundered” public money is evident from the manner in which donations were given by ministries, PSUs and the Prime Minister National Relief Fund to foundations run by it.

“The silence of the Congress on these allegations is deafening and is a proof of their guilt,” Mr Rao claimed.

Earlier in a video message, Sonia Gandhi said the central government cannot shirk its responsibility of securing our borders with China and asked Modi to take the nation into confidence on the situation in Ladakh.

In a message put out as part of the Congress party’s campaign to honour the Army personnel who sacrificed their lives in Ladakh, she asked why the country’s soldiers were killed when China has not captured any Indian territory, as claimed by the prime minister.