Launching a scathing attack on the prime minister, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi Thursday said he is “not afraid of Narendra Modi” and will not be “intimidated” by the Enforcement Directorate action in the National Herald case.
Gandhi’s reaction came a day after the ED sealed the office of Young Indian in Herald House here, and the Delhi police briefly barricaded the party office and the residences of Rahul and Sonia Gandhi.
“These are attempt at intimidation,” he told reporters outside Parliament. “We will not be intimidated. We are not afraid of Narendra Modi.”
In his first response after the ED sealed the premises of Young Indian in the Congress-owned National Herald office, Gandhi said, “They may do whatever they want. It does not matter. I will continue to work to protect the country and democracy and maintain harmony in the country. I will continue to do my work whatever they may do.”
Later, in a tweet in Hindi he doubled down on his criticism of the government and the prime minister.
“Truth cannot be barricaded. Do whatever you want, I am not afraid of the Prime Minister, I will always work in the interest of the country. Listen and understand!”
The former Congress chief said the BJP government thinks it can “silence us by putting some pressure on us”.
“We won’t be silenced. We will stand against what Narendra Modi ji, Amit Shah ji are doing in this country, against democracy, no matter what they do,” he had told in his media briefing.
Asked about the BJP assertion that it will not let them “run away” from the law, Gandhi said, “Who is talking about running away? They are talking about running away.”
The Congress also raised the issue of ED action in both the Houses of Parliament and caused disruptions. Many Congress leaders also gave adjournment notices in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, but these were not allowed by the Chair. Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge also raised the issue in the Upper House, alleging the government was “misusing” agencies to target Opposition leaders and demanded answers from the government on the ED action.
Congress leaders also sought to raise the issue in the Lok Sabha in the morning but were not allowed and the House was adjourned till 2 PM.
Herald case: ED resumes searches at Young Indian office after Cong leader Kharge’s arrival
The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday resumed its raids at the office of Young Indian (YI), the holding company of Congress owned newspaper National Herald, after senior party leader Mallikarjun Kharge presented himself before agency officials at the Herald House building here.
The 80-year-old Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha reached the building at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg near ITO around 12:40 pm and met ED officials on the summons of the agency which sought his attendance during the raids at YI in his capacity of being the principal officer of the company. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are among the promoters and majority shareholders in Young Indian. Like her son, the Congress president too has 38 per cent shareholding.
The federal agency had put a temporary seal at the single-room office of the YI, located on the ground floor of the four-storeyed Herald House building, to “preserve evidence” as it could not search it during the last two days because it was locked and authorised representatives were not available.
The searches at YI office which were on hold will be carried out now and any possible evidence available will be collected, officials said.
The office of the National Herald newspaper and web portal, where the editorial staff and administrative staff works, is located on the fourth floor of the Herald House building. The National Herald newspaper is published by Associated Journals Ltd. (AJL) and its holding company is Young Indian. The newspaper office is registered in the name of AJL. The ED had on Tuesday launched raids at a dozen locations, including at the Herald House, as part of its ongoing money laundering probe in the National Herald-AJL-Young Indian deal.
Agency officials had left the premises in the early hours of Wednesday after they collected some documents, digital data and questioned some staffers.
The agency also had carried out the high-profile questioning of Congress President Sonia Gandhi (in July) and her MP son Rahul Gandhi (in June) in this case at its headquarters in Delhi apart from that of Kharge and Pawan Bansal in April.
