National Herald: Opposition unites against Sonia Gandhi’s questioning by ED

The Opposition on Thursday issued a joint statement condemning the Enforcement Directorate’s summon to interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the alleged National Herald money laundering case, calling it “relentless campaign of vendetta” against political parties by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government.

“The Modi Sarkar has unleashed a relentless campaign of vendetta against its political opponents and critics through the mischievous misuse of investigative agencies. Prominent leaders of a number of political parties have been deliberately targeted and subjected to harassment in an unprecedented manner,” the statement said, adding, “We condemn this…the Modi Sarkar is destroying the social fabric of our society.”

Sonia Gandhi’s summon relates to the alleged financial irregularities in the party-promoted Young Indian, which owns the National Herald newspaper. The ED registered a new case under the criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after a trial court in Delhi took cognisance of an Income Tax department investigation into Young Indian Pvt Ltd on the basis of a private criminal complaint filed in 2013.

The grand old party has also organised protests inside and outside the Parliament, at the AICC headquarters and across the country.

The BJP slammed the Congress, recalling that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the Gujarat chief minister and was required to appear before the special investigation team in the Gujarat riots case, there were no protests. “What is the Congress afraid of if they (Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi) are not guilty?” asked BJP spokesperson Tom Vadakkan.