The Congress has planned another show of strength by holding protests across the national capital as Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi will appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday in the National Herald case.
The Congress today accused the BJP of misusing central agencies to "silence" opposition leaders.
"Be in Bengal or Rajasthan, the role of agencies and timings is very distinct. There is a conspiracy to silence us and stop us. Intent to silence the Opposition," the party said in an press conference called this morning.
In addition, the opposition parties released a joint statement condemning the BJP for "misusing central agencies."
"Modi government has unleashed a relentless vendetta against political opponents through misuse of investigative agencies by targeting prominent leaders of various parties. We will intensify our fight against the anti-people Modi Sarkar," the statement said.
Party leaders converged at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi for the protests. The leaders were seen raising slogans and extending their support to their party chief. Congress MPs may stage a protest in Parliament.
Jairam Ramesh, AICC general secretary in-charge of communication, Wednesday said the entire party would demonstrate across the country in solidarity with Sonia Gandhi, in “a most telling manner”.
“Tomorrow as the political vendetta unleashed by the Modi-Shah duo against our top leadership continues, the entire Congress party across the country will demonstrate its collective solidarity with Smt. Sonia Gandhi in a most telling manner,” he said on Twitter.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, other senior party leaders and MPs are already present in Delhi. They had a meeting this evening at Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge's house.
Official sources said that Sonia Gandhi has been asked to depose before the investigators at the party headquarters here around 11 am on Thursday.
The fresh summon was issued as Sonia Gandhi could not join the ED investigation in the case due to COVID-19.
The ED had on June 1 summoned Sonia Gandhi to appear before its investigators on June 8 in the case for the first time in connection with a money laundering case involving the National Herald.
The ED wants to record both Sonia Gandhi's statements under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
(To receive our E-paper on whatsapp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
