New Delhi, April 16 -- The Congress on Wednesday held protests outside Enforcement Directorate offices across the country over the agency's chargesheet against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case and alleged that the action against its leaders showed panic and moral bankruptcy of the "despotic" government which wanted to divert attention from public issues and economic crisis.
The BJP stepped up its attack on the Congress, saying the Opposition party has the right to protest but no one has the "licence to loot", and asserted that probe agencies will be unfazed by the Congress' "threats".
The law will take its course under the Modi government, BJP leader and former law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said at a press conference at party headquarters and dismissed the Congress' charge of vendetta.
The Opposition party claimed that the "frivolous" case against its leadership is nothing but BJP's fear of a "rising, revived" Congress and alleged that the ruling party was trying to "whitewash its sins" with such actions.
"This effort is being made to divert attention from public issues, foreign policy and economic crisis. The masterminds of this politics of revenge are two people who have a criminal mindset, but we will not remain silent," AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said addressing a press conference along with Abhishek Singhvi.
Holding black flags and placards, Congress leaders and workers raised slogans against the government and the ED as they protested on streets and outside the agency's offices across the states.
In Delhi, a protest started at the AICC headquarters but the members were soon whisked away by the police.
The Congress put out explainers on social media, countering the allegations related to the financial loan given to Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the company running National Herald, and termed as false the charges that Young Indian has taken over Rs 5,000 crore worth of properties of Associated Journals.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the "despotic government is hell-bent on targeting the Congress to whitewash its sins".
"BJP's economic mismanagement is spiralling out of control. Desperation is gathering steam. No vision, No solution, only diversion!," Kharge said in a post tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He alleged that the BJP is deliberately, out of vengeance, misusing the agencies and filing false cases, saying, "We will fight against this false case. If we were not afraid of the British, then what are BJP-RSS?".
BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Congress has the right to hold 'dharnas' but that right does not extend to misappropriating public properties given by the government to the National Herald.
He outlined the main charge against the Gandhis that as 76 per cent shareholder of the Young India company, they "misappropriated" thousands of crores of real estate owned by AJL.BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi also said that there was no question of vendetta politics as the probe into the case began on the Delhi High Court's directive in 2013 when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power.
He alleged that the way the Congress leadership has played with the "legacy of freedom fighters" in the National Herald case raises "ethical questions". "They transferred our freedom fighters' property (AJL) to their own child," he charged.
The Congress said that "politics of vengeance, harassment and intimidation" has been going on for the last two days, adding that its leadership, particularly CPP Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi have been deliberately targeted.
Singhvi said the case is nothing but vendetta in legal disguise."Selective justice is nothing but political thuggery," he said, asking where are the proceeds of the crime.
"This is the eighth wonder of the world, it is mocking justice, it represents the politics of vendetta," he said, hitting out at the government.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.