Protests erupt as ED questions Rahul in National Herald case
NEW DELHI: As Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrived in the Capital on Monday to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering probe linked to the National Herald newspaper, a political slugfest erupted as the leader was accompanied by a battery of party leaders and supporters who marched with him to the ED office in a show of solidarity.
Union minister and BJP MP Smriti Irani launched a scathing attack on Congress.
“Congress leaders have taken to the streets to pressurise an investigating agency openly because their corruption has been exposed,” she said while addressing a press conference here. “The impasse that Congress leaders and workers are doing today on the call of Rahul Gandhi, I would like to tell the country that this is not an attempt to save democracy, but an attempt to protect the assets of the Gandhi family worth ₹2,000 crore,” said Irani.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot however claimed the “arrogance” with which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been acting will come to an end.“Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi have given a message to the country that we will not compromise, we will fight on the basis of ideology. There is so much pressure on the CBI, Income Tax, ED, DRI, judiciary that even if someone wants to work in an impartial manner, that person cannot do it,” Gehlot told reporters.
“The time has come that every Indian should think about where we want to take the country to. Rahul Gandhi said in London that BJP has poured kerosene all over the country. Now you see what is happening? Riots are happening, riots are being instigated, tensions are rising,” he said, hitting out at the BJP.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah are walking around with ego and arrogance. Arrogance has not worked for anyone till today, it is not going to work for them either, it will end tomorrow, if not today,” he said.
Meanwhile, protests by the local units of Congress against the ED summons were reported from Karnataka, Dehradun, Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh among other parts of the country. Atleast 70 Congress members from Gujarat who were planning to march towards ED’s Ahmedabad office were held. Several Uttar Pradesh Congress leaders and workers were also taken into custody by the police after they took to the streets here to protest against the questioning of Gandhi.
Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel accused the Modi government of “misusing” investigative agencies to “suppress the voice of the Opposition”.
Taking to the media, Baghel said the whole nation is witnessing the ruling party’s “dictatorship”. “Congress workers were being stopped from reaching the party headquarters. The entire area has been cordoned off and police have been deployed all around in an attempt to crush democracy. It is the democratic right of the opposition party to hold protests and the BJP is trying to suppress the Opposition,” Baghel said.
While slamming the Gandhi family, Smriti Irani said that in the 1930s, the company Associate Journals Limited was formed with 5,000 freedom fighters as shareholders. “Today, a company that was to be run by freedom fighters has been usurped by the Gandhi family,” Irani said.
“What would you name this strategy of Congress for pressurising an investigation agency? Rahul Gandhi has been summoned on issues of corruption, consider that subject?” she asked.
Further taking a jibe at the Congress’ “Satyagraha” march, she said, “Those who are on bail have announced that come surround Delhi because our corruption has been caught. Senior Congress-ruled leaders have been specially invited to put pressure on an investigation agency.”She said that if you people meet Rahul Gandhi, then ask him what is his relation with Dotex Merchandise Pvt Ltd.
“Why is Gandhi family interested in a former newspaper publishing company which is now running real estate business...This shows that not just ‘Jijaji’ (Rahul Gandhi’s brotherin-law Robert Vadra) but the entire Gandhi family is fascinated by real estate,” she said.
In another development, several Congress leaders who had taken to the streets were detained for violating prohibitory orders.Prominent among those detained were Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and Congress leaders Randeep Surjewala.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot alleged that investigative agencies were being misused by the ruling BJP.
Slamming the agitation, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “The allegation is against the family but the party is undertaking the agitation. This is a prime example of Congress and corruption made for each other.”