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On a day Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi is slated to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the National Herald case, the party launched an offensive against the government inside the parliament and across the nation accusing it of using investigative agencies to target opposition leaders.
Sonia Gandhi reached the ED office here at around noon for questioning in the National Herald money laundering case. Sonia's daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and son Rahul Gandhi are said to have accompanied her to the ED office. Prior to her, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was also quizzed for days in the same case.
Congress MPs Manickam Tagore, Gaurav Gogoi and other leaders gave separate adjournment motion notices in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seeking discussion on the misuse of law enforcement and investigating agencies including the ED.
Lok Sabha was adjourned till 11.30 am since the Opposition raised the issue when the House was convened Thursday morning. Similarly, Rajya Sabha was also adjourned till noon due to slogans raised by the Opposition leaders.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, however, criticised the agitating MPs in the Lower House and stated that the Congress thinks they are above the law. "Everybody is equal before the law or not? Is the Congress president (Sonia Gandhi) a superhuman being? They (Congress) think they are above the law...," Pralhad Joshi told the Lok Sabha.
Joint statement released
Opposition parties issued a joint statement slamming the Centre for carrying out "relentless vendetta against political opponents".
Condemning the act, the statement said, "The Modi Sarkar has unleashed a relentless campaign of vendetta against its political opponents and critics through the mischievous misuse of investigative agencies. Prominent leaders of a number of political parties have been deliberately targeted and subjected to harassment in an unprecedented manner".
The Opposition parties, said the joint statement, have resolved to "continue and intensify our collective fight against the anti-people, anti-farmer, anti-Constitution policies of the Modi Sarkar that is destroying the social fabric of our society". Inside the parliament building complex, the Congress parliamentarians marched from Gate No 2 to Gandhi Statue.
The Congress workers were detained by the Delhi Police for protesting against what they said was the misuse of ED. The police have deployed force in the New Delhi area, especially around the Congress' office at 12 Akbar Road and around the ED office, to avoid any untoward incident.
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