Cong says police entered HQ, beat up workers; cops deny, BJP hits out
HT Correspondents
NEW DELHI: Congress leaders accused the Delhi Police of entering the party headquarters and assaulting its workers on Wednesday, the third day the opposition party protested against the Union government over the questioning of its MP Rahul Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The party hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the police, and accused the party of stifling democracy by cracking down on its peaceful agitation. The police denied allegations that its personnel entered the party headquarters at 24, Akbar Road and lathi-charged workers.
The BJP, too, lashed out at the Congress, saying the grand old party was trying to hide the wrongdoings of its leaders by launching an agitation to divert attention.
“Today, Delhi Police forcibly entered the HQ (headquarters) of India’s oldest political party,” Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said in a tweet.
“As they burst the doors open to the AICC (All India Congress Committee) HQ, they trampled upon the democracy our forefathers fought and gave their lives for. BJP has truly killed Indian democracy. It doesn’t get darker than this.”
The party has decided to intensify its agitation, and plans to hold protests outside Raj Bhawans (governor’s residences) across the country on Thursday, it said in a statement.
In all, 242 Congress workers and leaders, including Sachin Pilot, were detained from central Delhi and taken to police stations across the city.
Police said there was nothing wrong with their actions.
“Many people threw barricades at the police and were behaving aggressively outside the HQ. There might have been a scrimmage. Since few aggressors ran inside the AICC office when police tried to catch them, some police personnel followed them. The police did not go inside the office or baton-charge anyone. The protests have been happening for the past three days but no force has been used by the police. We are appealing to them to coordinate with us,” said special commissioner of police (law and order) Sagarpreet Hooda. ED questioned Gandhi for the third consecutive day in connection with its money laundering probe linked to the National Herald newspaper.
“We were just entering the party office and for no reason we were just shoved into a bus and taken to a police station and we don’t know what next they plan to do with us,” former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Pilot told news agency PTI.
“Perpetuated at the instance of Modi government, the Delhi Police today forcibly entered the national headquarter of Indian National Congress at Delhi, beat up workers and leaders. This is patently criminal trespass,” said Congress media in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala.
The Congress leader from Haryana demanded that an FIR be lodged against all officers of the Delhi Police who committed a “criminal trespass by forcibly entering headquarter of Indian National Congress”.
The BJP hit back at the Congress over its agitation. “For the last three days, Congress is trying to hide corruption under the guise of violence, and that shows the pettiness of its leadership,” said Sudhanshu Trivedi, BJP spokesperson.
“The way the Congress party’s stature has reduced from the time of Gandhi to the time of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi is evident,” he added.