ED questions Rahul, his party hits the streets in protest

As Rahul Gandhi proceeded to the ED office in the morning, there were dramatic scenes on the streets with leaders trying to accompany him and the police taking them to different police stations.

The party claimed the police manhandled several leaders and at least four senior leaders, including former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, sustained injuries.

Delhi Police and Sagar Preet Hooda, Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), denied allegations of manhandling and assault by policemen.

“All women workers/functionaries were released… There were a few complaints at Tughlaq Road police station but no such incident (of violence) took place. If there are allegations of some manhandling, the same will diligently be looked into for appropriate action,” Hooda said.

“15 members of Lok Sabha, 11 members of Rajya Sabha and 5  MLAs of different state assemblies were among  the 459 detained under Delhi Police Act for not following lawful directions of police,” he said.

Earlier, workers jostled with police, leaders were bundled into police vehicles, Chief Ministers and veterans sat in buses en route police stations amid sound bytes of “democracy being murdered”.

The Delhi Police, which had barricaded all roads leading to the AICC headquarters at 24, Akbar Road, and deployed hundreds of personnel, foiled the party’s plan to stage a march with Rahul from the Congress office to the ED headquarters a kilometre away by denying it permission, and not letting party workers reach their office.

The Congress alleged that the Opposition’s voice was being “stifled” and that the government was acting in a “cowardly manner and misusing investigative agencies”.

Rahul arrived at the ED headquarters at around 11.30 am, accompanied by top Congress leaders and party workers. After his questioning for about two-and-a-half hours, he was allowed to leave for lunch, sources said. Once he returned, the questioning continued until 10 pm. He did not, however, leave the ED office till very late because he was reviewing the statement recorded by the agency, sources said.

The sources said he was questioned about the ownership of Young India by the Gandhi family and its shareholding in Associate Journals Limited (AJL), the company that runs the National Herald newspaper. He was also questioned about the circumstances under which AJL was acquired by Young India in 2010, making it the owner of all assets owned by the National Herald newspaper.

His mother Sonia Gandhi is scheduled to appear before the ED later this month — she was admitted Sunday to the Ganga Ram Hospital following post-Covid complications.

As Rahul headed to the ED office, those detained for violating prohibitory orders included Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, several CWC members and party MPs.

Congress communication department head Randeep Surjewala claimed police pushed Chidambaram and threw away his spectacles. He said Chidambaram suffered a hairline fracture in a left rib. He said while AICC in-charge of Delhi and Rajya Sabha MP Shaktisinh Gohil was beaten with lathis, Pramod Tiwari too suffered injuries on the head and ribs when he fell after being pushed.

In a Twitter post, Chidambaram said: “When three big, burly policemen crash into you, you are lucky to get away with a suspected hairline crack! Doctors have said that if there is a hairline crack, it will heal by itself in about 10 days. I am fine and I will go about my work tomorrow.”

In his complaint, Chowdhury said: “I have been badly manhandled by the Delhi Police on the way to the ED office without even an iota of provocation. During the phase of police atrocities, I got an injury in the upper jaw.”

Earlier, almost the entire top leadership of the party had converged at the AICC  headquarters by 9 am. The leaders of the G-23 were missing. While Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari is down with Covid, his party colleague Shashi Tharoor is abroad.

Rahul, with his sister and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, arrived at 10.50 am. Within five minutes, after a short meeting with the senior leadership, he walked out of the AICC headquarters with senior leaders. While Rahul was allowed to leave, the leaders, including Baghel and Gehlot, struggled to come out. Baghel’s security officers were seen arguing with Delhi Police personnel as he tried to make his way out of the party office to accompany Rahul.

While leaders like Gehlot, Kharge, Jairam Ramesh, Digvijaya Singh and several others were taken to the Fatehpur Beri police station, Chowdhury, Venugopal, Harish Rawat and a large number of leaders and MPs were taken to the Tughlaq Road police station. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra went to the Tughlaq Road police station to meet the leaders and also interacted with Venugopal.

After being released, Baghel said the “whole nation is witnessing the ruling party’s dictatorship… It is the democratic right of the Opposition party to hold protests and the BJP is trying to suppress it… When Sonia Gandhi appears before the ED, there will be a bigger demonstration than this.”

— With Jignasa Sinha