National Herald case: Rahul Gandhi summoned by ED again on Wednesday

NEW DELHI:  The Enforcement Directorate (ED) grilled Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for the second consecutive day on Tuesday for about 10 hours in the National Herald case, and has summoned him again on Wednesday, even as Congress leaders and workers continued their protest.

Rahul, accompanied by sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, reached the probe agency’s office at APJ Abdul Kalam Road amid heavy police deployment around 11 am.  After four hours of questioning, he took a break around 3:30 pm and went home. He returned to the ED office after about an hour and at 9 pm. Earlier in the day, he had joined senior party leaders at a ‘dharna’ at the Congress headquarters.

On Day Two also, party leaders and workers hit the streets in a ‘show of solidarity’ with their MP. Several senior leaders staged a protest at the party headquarters. They were detained and taken to different police stations. Prohibitory orders were in force and heavy barricading was in place to stop Congress leaders from marching along with Rahul.

Top Congress leaders, including KC Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Deepender Singh Hooda, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Ranjeet Ranjan,  Gaurav Gogoi, Imran Pratapgarhi and B V Srinivas were taken into preventive custody. Priyanka and the chief ministers of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel, were also present at the dharna at the Congress headquarters along with party MPs and workers. 

Lok Sabha MP Manickam Tagore claimed he and some other leaders, including P L Punia, were not allowed to enter the party office Akbar Road and were detained at the Mandir Marg police station.
Hitting out at the government over the ED summons to Rahul and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Gehlot said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should focus on governance rather than targeting opposition leaders.

The BJP alleged the Congress was blocking roads to show its “leaders are above the law”. Taking a swipe at Rahul after he criticised the PM’s announcement on providing 10 lakh jobs, Anuraag Thakur said, “I would only say to Rahul ji, you should first provide the right answers to the ED on the serious charges of corruption made against you.”