Ahead of the next hearing in the controversial National Herald case on July 16 at the Patiala courts here, talk of reviving TheNational Herald and its sister publications, Quami Awaz (Urdu) and Navjivan (Hindi), has gained momentum in the Congress.
Though the decision by Associated Journals Ltd. (AJL), which used to publish the papers till they closed down, to re-launch the three dailies was taken at an extraordinary general meeting in Lucknow on January 21, no concrete steps have yet been taken.
Congress treasurer Motilal Vora, who is the chairman of the AJL’s Board of Directors, said: “… But we still have to appoint editors, editorial and other staff.”
Mr. Vora said the AJL would like the papers to have print and Internet editions. “It will have to be commercially profitable,” he said. “We want the paper to have an all-India circulation.”
Viability concernsHowever, many in the younger generation are concerned that the print editions might lose money, making the venture unviable.
All details will be worked out after the next meeting of the Board of Directors, a date for which is yet to be fixed. The other members include journalist Suman Dubey, party veteran Oscar Fernandes, and technology expert Sam Pitroda.
For the Congress, the re-launch of The National Herald is politically important, given that last year on December 19, a Delhi court summoned Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi on a complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy questioning the acquisition of AJL by Young Indian.
The papers’ revival will weaken the case against the Gandhis and other senior Congress senior leaders, it is felt.
The National Herald , which was launched in Lucknow on September 9, 1938, suspended operations and stopped publishing in 2008 due to financial constraints. The Lucknow edition was closed down in 1999. The company owns prime real estate in various cities, including Delhi and Mumbai.
