Congress Protests Outside BJP Offices Across Country After National Herald Order

The Congress, on Wednesday, held protests across the country against what it alleged was the Modi government's "misuse" of probe agencies for vendetta politics and vowed to keep up the fight in Parliament and outside, a day after a Delhi court refused to take cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate's money laundering charge against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case.

Senior leaders of the party, who led the demonstrations outside the BJP offices in state capitals and other places, demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah should tender a public apology or resign.

Holding a banner that read 'Satyamev Jayate, Truth Prevails', party MPs lined up in front of the Parliament's Makar Dwar steps. Congress general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal, AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik, MPs Shashi Tharoor, Tariq Anwar, Kumari Selja, K Suresh, Manickam Tagore, among others, participated in the protest.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge had said, "We have been fighting on the streets, in Parliament, outside it, and will continue to do it and teach them a lesson," he said, while welcoming the court order and thanking party workers.

He alleged that over the past 11 years, there have been more than 50 such key opposition leaders whom the Modi government has made "full efforts to intimidate and blackmail by misusing" the ED, CBI and Income Tax Department.

In Belagavi, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar led the protest in front of the Gandhi statue at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha on the National Herald issue and against the Centre's move to replace the existing rural employment law MGNREGA.

"Justice has prevailed. It is a lesson to the BJP. It should stop this vindictive attitude," Shivakumar, also the state Congress chief, said.

In Chhattisgarh, Congress MLAs created an uproar in the state assembly, demanding a discussion on the issue of "misuse of agencies to suppress the Opposition" by moving an adjournment motion.

In Patna, a large number of Congress workers, led by the party’s Bihar unit president Rajesh Ram, raised slogans against the central government, Prime Minister Modi and other BJP leaders.

Holding party flags, Congress workers led by state chief Keshav Mahto Kamlesh protested outside the Jharkhand BJP headquarters in Ranchi.

Kamlesh said top BJP leaders have been attacking Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case. "Now the Narendra Modi government at the Centre should tender a public apology before the nation for misusing its powers through the ED to defame the Gandhi family," he said.

In Jaipur, police put up barricades to stop protesting Rajasthan Congress leaders and workers from marching to the BJP state headquarters. Senior leaders and workers of the Jammu and Kashmir Unit were also stopped by the police as they tried to protest outside the BJP office in Jammu.

Several Odisha Congress leaders and workers were detained after they scuffled with security personnel during a protest march to the state BJP headquarters in the state capital over the National Herald issue, officials said.

Odisha Congress chief Bhakta Charan Das also demanded a public apology from PM Modi and Shah, and said Congress workers would be protesting across the state.

Police personnel detained Congress workers during a protest outside the Enforcement Directorate office in Mumbai.

However, the BJP on Wednesday accused the Congress of running misleading propaganda over the trial court's decision in the National Herald case and said the court refused to take cognisance of the complaint but did not set aside the case.

The case is still pending trial in the Delhi High Court, and the trial court in its order on Tuesday said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) can continue its investigation, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia asserted.

With PTI inputs.