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

June 13, 2022
Bharat Times

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi arrived at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in Delhi on Monday to appear before it 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 went.

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

PROTESTS, DETENTION

Delhi Police, who had denied permission for a Congress rally, detained several leaders, including Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and party general secretary KC Venugopal. They were taken to various police stations.

(Photo: PTI)

At around 11 am, Rahul Gandhi arrived at the ED office, amid zindabad chants. Police lathicharged the protesters as ED began grilling the former Congress chief in a money laundering case. Senior leaders Adhir Chowdhury and Harish Rawat were dragged out from the protest site.

“Jails may be filled, but Congress won’t accept defeat,” said spokesperson Pawan Khera, as other detained leaders found solace in the song ‘Raghupati Raghav…’

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

As many as 459 Congress leaders and workers were detained and later released. This included 15 Lok Sabha MPs, 11 Rajya Sabha MPs including Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge. As many as five MLAs from several state Assemblies were also detained. All woman workers/functionaries detained by police have been released.

(Photo: PTI)

RAHUL MEETS SONIA

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

CONGRESS LASHES OUT AT BJP

When the clock struck six, various party leaders addressed the media, lashing out at the BJP-led Centre and ED. Ashok Gehlot claimed that the BJP is the force behind ED and CBI moves against Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders.

“The BJP doesn’t care about people or their issues. The public is being harassed in the name of religion. The BJP is the force behind ED, CBI raids,” Gehlot said.

“This is nothing but politics. Had there been a legal point in this case, it would not have taken eight years for action. This is their [BJP] method to harass people, but we will not be scared. We will continue to fight,” said MP Mallikarjun Kharge.

Meanwhile, several others accused Delhi Police of manhandling senior leaders. Surjewala accused the cops of ‘brutalising’ its leaders. Chidambaram said he suffered a “suspected hairline crack” during protests.

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

“Through his drama, Rahul Gandhi has proven that he has done something wrong. Otherwise, he would’ve gone there silently and given a statement to media later. But procession was taken out and he appeared before ED with an army. India has changed, nobody will be scared of you now.” said Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.

At 9:40 pm, Rahul Gandhi left the ED office after nearly ten hours of questioning. But the ‘date’ did not end there. Reports emerged that the ED has summoned him once again tomorrow as few questions were not covered during today’s interrogation.