General News

10 hours of questions, drama and fresh summons: Rahul Gandhi’s date with ED

June 13, 2022
Bharat Times English News

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi arrives at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in Delhi on Monday in connection with the National Herald case. He was not alone. The Gandhi scion led a ‘Satyagraha’ march against the ED summons and party workers took to the streets in solidarity.

(Photo: PTI)

Here’s how Rahul Gandhi’s ‘date’ with the ED happened.

On Monday morning, Rahul Gandhi was joined by his sister Priyanka Gandhi as he led several senior leaders and hundreds of workers to the ED office amid heavy police deployment and barricades. However, P Chidambaram was baffled as the bulldozers in action were missing.

protest, detention

The Delhi Police, which had refused permission for the Congress rally, detained several leaders including Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and party general secretary KC Venugopal. They were taken to different police stations.

(Photo: PTI)

Rahul Gandhi reached the ED office at around 11 am amid slogans of Zindabad. The police lathi-charged the protesters as the ED began questioning the former Congress chief in a money laundering case. Senior leaders Adhir Chaudhary and Harish Rawat were dragged out of the protest site.

Spokesperson Pawan Khera said, “Jails can be filled, but Congress will not give up.”

“Even the British could not suppress the voice of Congress during the freedom struggle, then how can this ruling government do it?” ED questioned Rahul Gandhi from Randeep Singh Surjewala.

At least 459 Congress leaders and workers were detained and later released. It included 15 Lok Sabha MPs, 11 Rajya Sabha MPs, including Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge. Five MLAs of several state assemblies have also been detained. All the women activists/activists detained by the police have been released.

(Photo: PTI)

Rahul meets Sonia

At around 3 pm, Rahul Gandhi left the ED office after three hours of interrogation. During his ‘lunch break’, the former Congress chief met Sonia Gandhi, who is recovering from Covid, at Ganga Ram Hospital. He will also have to appear before the ED on June 23 in this case.

Congress targets BJP

As the clock struck six, various party leaders addressed the media, targeting the BJP-led Center and the ED. Ashok Gehlot claimed that the BJP is the force behind the ED and CBI’s moves against Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders.

Gehlot said, “BJP does not care about people or their issues. People are being harassed in the name of religion. BJP is the force behind ED, CBI raids.”

“It’s nothing but politics. If there was a legal thing in this matter, the action would not have taken eight years. It’s theirs. [BJP] Way to harass people, but we will not be afraid. We will continue to fight,” said MP Mallikarjun Kharge.

Meanwhile, several others accused the Delhi Police of assaulting senior leaders. Surjewala accused the police of ‘brutalizing’ its leaders. Chidambaram said he faced a ‘suspicious hairline crack’ during the protests.

In the midst of all this, the ruling BJP hit back at the opposition of the Congress, calling the demonstrations a ‘fake satyagraha’ in support of corruption.

“Through his play, Rahul Gandhi has proved that he has done something wrong. Otherwise, he would have gone there quietly and would have made a statement to the media later. But a procession was taken out and he appeared before the ED along with the army. India has changed, now no one will be afraid of you.” Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

After about ten hours of interrogation, Rahul Gandhi left the ED office at 9:40 pm. But the ‘date’ did not end there. Reports surfaced that the ED has summoned him once again yesterday as some questions were not covered during today’s questioning.