Vincent George, a Congress loyalist and secretary of Sonia Gandhi, once fired a writer because he published an article that Sonia Gandhi did not like. The writer was Kanchan Gupta, who is now a senior adviser in the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India.
Kanchan Gupta was sacked because he wrote an article titled “Ram Rajya vs Rome Rajya” before the 1996 Lok Sabha elections. The article was published in The Pioneer newspaper.
Following a phone call from Vincent George (then Sonia Gandhi’s PA) to his Executive Editor at the time, Kanchan Gupta was compelled to resign from the Pioneer newspaper shortly after the piece was published. Vincent called up the then-executive editor of The Pioneer and expressed Sonia Gandhi’s displeasure with the piece, which resulted in Kanchan Gupta, the article’s author, being fired from his job.
In 2012, veteran journalist Kanchan Gupta took to Twitter to share the incident of how an article he wrote had seemingly riled up Sonia Gandhi, whose PA Vincent George had called up the Executive Editor of The Pioneer to convey his boss’ displeasure at the article, resulting in Gupta losing his job.
I wrote this piece; Vincent George called the then Executive Editor; much shit happened; I packed my bag and left. http://t.co/1t3c3POY
— Kanchan Gupta 🇮🇳 (@KanchanGupta) May 2, 2012
Much later, in 2018, Anand Ranganathan, a well-known author and a columnist, shared a video of Kanchan Gupta on Twitter where he spoke about the incident. The video dates back to August 2018 when Gupta shared this incident at the Pondy Literature Festival. Sharing the video, Anand Ranganathan wrote, “Sonia Gandhi’s secretary Vincent George given eviction notice for his Lutyens’ bungalow. He’s the same lackey who got @KanchanGupta sacked for writing an article Sonia didn’t like. Dada suffered years because of him. This is the true face of the Congress.”
Sonia Gandhi’s secretary Vincent George given eviction notice for his Lutyens’ bungalow. He’s the same lackey who got @KanchanGupta sacked for writing an article Sonia didn’t like. Dada suffered years because of him.
— Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) April 2, 2022
This is the true face of the Congress. pic.twitter.com/Wfc5iKpCxm
It should be noted that the Centre recently issued an eviction notice to the Congress party, directing them to evacuate the property in New Delhi’s Chanakyapuri where Vincent George previously resided. Notably, even though George no longer lives at C-II/109 Chanakyapuri, the Congress party still owns the house. The property’s most recent rent was paid in 2013. Since then, the total unpaid rent has amounted to a stunning Rs 3.08 crore.
Vincent George: A deep-hearted Congress loyalist
Vincent George used to be Senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s personal secretary. In November 1984, he was appointed as the youngest private secretary to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Party members and lobbyists referred to him as “King George” because of his reach to higher levels within and outside the party.
Following Rajiv Gandhi’s death in 1991, and Sonia Gandhi’s unwillingness to take over the party, George stayed at the 10 Janpath office, which had abruptly ceased to be the political epicentre. When Sonia Gandhi chose seclusion in the years that followed, George quickly withdrew himself from the tumultuous world of Congress politics.
A case was also filed against George by the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2001, alleging that he amassed a vast fortune after 1990, including commercial and residential properties in affluent South Delhi, properties in Bangalore, Chennai, Kerala, and farm property bordering Delhi, as well as cash totalling over Rs 1.5 crore in bank accounts. The case was closed by CBI in 2013 citing insufficient evidence.
