Congress Ready To Stage 'Satyagrah' Outside ED Offices Across Country On Monday

Congress has decided to stage "Satyagraha" protests across the country, in front of ED offices, as Rahul Gandhi appears before the Electorate Directorate on June 13.

PTI

Updated on: 9 June 2022 4:16 pm

With Rahul Gandhi set to appear before the Enforcement Directorate on June 13 in a money laundering case, the Congress on Thursday has decided that all its top leaders and MPs would take out a protest march to the agency headquarters in New Delhi and offices in other states to stage "satyagraha" against what the party is calling a "misuse" by the central government.

The protest plan was finalized at a virtual meeting of the party's state unit presidents and general secretaries and in-charges of various states that was convened by the general secretary (organization) K C Venugopal. He said in Delhi, all the Congress MPs and Congress Working Committee (CWC) members will march to the ED office against its "misuse" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

Congress whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore tweeted, "I will join and march towards ED office in Delhi. No FIR. Bogus case to malign an honest leader. 9 AM 13th June. Join in Delhi or join Congress satyagraha in front of the ED office in your state." The Congress has termed the charges "fake and baseless" and added the summonses to Rahul Gandhi and party president Sonia Gandhi were part of the BJP's "vendetta politics". The party had put up a similar show of strength earlier when the Gandhis appeared in a court after they were summoned in a related case.

The Congress on Wednesday had said its leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi would appear before the ED as they had nothing to hide from the probe agency, and that the BJP should learn lessons from it. Sonia Gandhi was asked to appear before the ED on Wednesday, but she had sought time from the agency as she was recovering from the coronavirus infection. The Congress president had tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.

Rahul Gandhi had earlier been summoned to appear before the agency on June 2 but he sought a fresh date as he was abroad at the time. The case pertains to the probe into the alleged financial irregularities in the party-promoted Young Indian that owns the National Herald newspaper. The paper is published by Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and owned by Young Indian Pvt Limited.

Officials said the agency wanted to record the statements of the Gandhis under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).