From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: All Congress MPs and the Congress Working Committee (CWC) members on Thursday courted collective mass arrests before the AICC headquarters in protest of harassment to party president Sonia Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate, summoning her for interrogations in the National Herald case.
Even as Sonia drove down to the ED office, Police herded the Congress leaders in buses and carried them 12 km away to the Kingsway Camp police station near Delhi University near the borders of the North West Delhi. The Congress released a photograph if Rajya Sabha Opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge with the party activists at the New Police Line, Kingsway Camp.
Congress chief spokesman Jairam Ramesh tweeted that the Media was prevented from reaching the AICC headquarters for a morning Press conference by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and national spokesman Pawan Khera. Since many journalists could not reach, the party circulated highlights of the press conference.
Gehlot said the alliances are natural in politics but not the kind of the unholy alliance by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister with the government agencies. “Whenever they feel cornered, they misuse the agencies. Khera said the Congress are determined not to get scared from these agencies let loose on them.
Noting how the Enforcement Directorate was let loose on Rahul Gandhi to subject him to 50 hours of interrogations for five days and on Thursday Sonia Gandhi has been summoned, Gehlot said the Congress members are peacefully protesting and staging Dharnas all over the country at the state and district headquarters and this is the democratic right that is also suppressed with police action.
He said the credibility of the premier agencies like Enforcement Directorate, CBI and Income Tax Department is eroding fast since they are forced to cook up bogus cases against leaders of the opposition parties. He said the ED carried out 1700 raids and took up 1569 cases for investigations, but its conviction rate is just 0.5% He said hours of interrogations by ED are to demoralise the Gandhi family but the whole Congress stands behind it to fight bravely without any dread or fear.
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Condemning the ED for summoning Sonia Gandhi to its office, Gehlot said its officials should have come to her residence to record her statement on the National Herald issue. He said the government does not want the National Herald to rise like Times of India or Hindustan Times as its leaders feel threatened. He said the Congress was in power for so many years, but it never tried to stop the BJP-aligned papers like Panchjanya and Observer.
He said the National Herald case is being complicated to create false impressions. He said the BJP is also rattled from the Udaipur declaration of the Congress to start a “Bharat Jodi” padyatra from October 2 and that is why the Modi government swung into action to let loose the ED to summon the Gandhis.
