Police quiz Rahul Gandhi at home over Bharat Jodo speech

The visit, Delhi Police officials said, was in connection with Rahul Gandhi’s allegations in his speech that “women are still being sexually assaulted”.

A team of senior Delhi Police officials on Sunday reached the Tughlaq Lane residence of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to seek details over a speech he made during his Bharat Jodo Yatra march in January, triggering an angry response from the opposition party which called the visit an attempt at intimidation and indicated that it will escalate its campaign against the government in Parliament.

Rahul Gandhi held a press conference on Thursday, saying he will seek to speak on his London speech, but the party has held that the government is not allowing him in order to silence him.

The visit, Delhi Police officials said, was in connection with Gandhi’s allegations in his speech that “women are still being sexually assaulted”. Hours later, Gandhi hit back at the timing of visit 45 days after he made the speech, and alleged the real motive of the police visit was linked to his attacks on the government over the Adani controversy.

Separately, the party announced that opposition parties will meet at 9.30am on Monday to discuss their strategy before the session’s scheduled start at 11am.

In a four-page, 10-point response to the Delhi Police, Gandhi asked whether campaigns of other political parties, including the ruling BJP, have been subjected to such kind of scrutiny or questioning, news agency PTI reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

“What is the urgency of making two visits within a span of two days, after a gap of 45 days of my speech,” he added, seeking 8-10 days to give a detailed response on the allegations he made during a Bharat Jodo Yatra event in Srinagar on January 30.

“I hope and trust that it has nothing to do with me being the centre of special attention both inside and outside of Parliament, including on the Adani issue, by the ruling dispensation in the last few weeks,”he reportedly said in his reply.

The Sunday face-off came as Parliament was scheduled to reconvene on Monday for the second half of the Budget session, which was all but washed out in the past week as the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) clashed over Gandhi’s comments during a recent foreign tour and the allegations surrounding the Adani Group.

“Now, after the Delhi Police enquiry, our demand that Gandhi be allowed to speak in the House will grow louder. He has a right to speak, and he must be allowed to speak,” Congress Lok Sabha member Manickam Tagore said.

Gandhi’s Congress colleagues said that the police visit took place despite the Congress leader having said that he will reply to the police notice, which was first sent on March 16.

Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order, zone-2) Sagar Preet Hooda led the team to Gandhi’s residence and said they met the Congress leader for details about the victims of sexual harassment he alleged.

“We met the Congress leader at his residence today with our set of questions. He has sought time to compile the details which we’ve asked for. He told us that as the yatra was very long and he met many people, he needed more time to give us the information. We will begin our proceedings as soon as we receive the information,” he said.

Hooda added that the police also served a notice that was accepted by his office on Sunday. “Once we get his reply, we will be able to investigate the matter seriously. Delhi Police have always been proactive in safety and security of women. We hope to get some vital details from the information about the women who shared their ordeal of sexual harassment with him during his Bharat Jodo Yatra in Srinagar,” he said.

“Since his Bharat Jodo Yatra also passed through the national Capital, it is our duty to get details of the victims — if any one of them belongs to Delhi — so that security can be provided for them. If questioning needs to be done during the investigation, Gandhi may again be asked to join it,” he added.

Addressing a joint press conference at the AICC headquarters here, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, party general secretary Jairam Ramesh and national spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said the move was a clear case of “vendetta, intimidation and harassment” to create an atmosphere against the former Congress chief.

The BJP, however, said Delhi Police was merely following a lawful process and Gandhi should provide the information sought by it so that victims can get justice.

Party spokesperson Sambit Patra said police should have information about incidents claimed by Gandhi and that is why the Delhi Police followed the legal procedure to meet the Congress leader for details.

He took a swipe at the Congress, saying the party is now crying that “democracy is in danger” over the lawful action by the police.

Speaking to reporters in Nagpur city in Maharashtra, Union minister Anurag Thakur said, “It has become a habit of some people to remain in limelight by saying anything. But, they don’t understand the seriousness of the subject. If Rahulji is really serious about women’s issues, then he should give the information. What is he hiding?... Was it a lie then or is he lying now, only he can tell.”

The ruling BJP and the opposition Congress and some of its allies have been locked in a bitter stand-off in Parliament and Sunday’s developments are likely to harden their stance further.

On one hand is the opposition’s insistence that a broader investigation be opened and the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi adequately respond to the controversy regarding the Adani group, while on the other, BJP has attacked Gandhi for having questioned India’s democratic credentials during a speech he made in London.

Ramesh said that he does not see a “middle path” to end the logjam in Parliament and that the ruling party was deliberately doing this to divert attention from the Adani issue. “Since 16 parties came together and demanded a JPC (joint parliamentary committee) probe over it (Adani issue) and for 50 minutes Rahul Gandhi spoke of the Adani controversy in the Lok Sabha, the government has formed a strategy to insult him about what he said in Cambridge and London. They are diverting facts when we have cleared out what the situation is... the home minister says “middle path”, this middle path is impossible.”

The BJP will step up its attack on Gandhi and seek his apology as the session resumes on Monday, people aware of the matter said.

The row snowballed steadily through the last week, with both sides hardening their stance. On Friday, the last day MPs met in House, opposition accused Lok Sabha staff of deliberately turning off the audio to silence their protest, and said it was unprecedented that the government did not allow the House to function.

The Adani Group lost a sizable portion of its market value after allegations that it had rigged stock prices and carried out fraud against investors. The group has denied the charges, which were first made by American activist investor group Hindenburg Research.

The BJP has maintained Gandhi’s comments insulted and undermined the Indian Parliament, judiciary, and the media, and it has also threatened to take action within the parliamentary framework if Gandhi did not apologise in Parliament.

Gandhi held a press conference on Thursday, saying he will seek to speak on his London speech, but the party has held that the government is not allowing him in order to silence him.