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‘ED haye haye’: Congress workers protest outside Herald House after raids
Congress veteran Jairam Ramesh has hit out at the BJP-led Centre over the raids, calling them a part of the “continued attack against India's principal opposition”.
Congress workers staged a protest outside the Herald House in Delhi on Tuesday as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) continued raiding at least 12 locations across the country in connection with the alleged National Herald money-laundering case for which party's interim president Sonia Gandhi and MP Rahul Gandhi had been questioned multiple times.
In a video shared by news agency ANI, Congress workers were seen shouting slogans “ED haye haye” as police tried to disperse them and control the situation.
The raids, ED officials said, were underway to collect documentary evidence pertaining to the federal agency's probe into the Herald case. The searches were launched a week after Sonia Gandhi was probed for more than 11 hours over three days. The Congress chief was quizzed over her day-to-day role in Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YI), its funding, and the takeover of Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), while Rahul was questioned for more than 50 hours over five days in June.
Congress veteran Jairam Ramesh has hit out at the BJP-led central government over the raids, calling them a part of the “continued attack against India's principal opposition”.
“We strongly condemn this vendetta politics against those who speak up against the Modi Govt. You cannot silence us!” he tweeted.
Protests happened in Delhi and Kerala as well last week when Sonia was questioned for the third time by the ED in the case. Party MPs and leaders, including former chief Rahul Gandhi had taken out a protest march and planned to meet the newly sworned-in President Droupadi Murmu as well. However, Delhi Police detained Rahul and other protesting MPs, including Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. Videos that surfaced online from Kerala showed Congress workers blocking rail tracks and staging demonstrations.
India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, founded AJL in November 1937 and it published the Qaumi Awaz in Urdu, Navjeevan in Hindi, and the National Herald. The corruption case was filed after complaints from BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy nearly 10 years ago. The Gandhis have been accused of financial fraud.
