The Narendra Modi government wants an “Opposition-mukt Bharat”, the Congress alleged on July 27 as party chief Sonia Gandhi was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the third day in an alleged money laundering case linked to National Herald newspaper.
In an indication that the questioning of the Congress chief has concluded, Ms. Gandhi, who was questioned for nearly three hours on day three, was given no fresh summons.
Expressing solidarity with their party chief, Congress MPs marched from the Parliament complex to the adjacent Vijay Chowk lawns, where they held a sit-in and raised slogans.
Sit on protest
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Rajya Sabha Chief Whip Jairam Ramesh, his Lok Sabha counterpart K. Suresh and a host of MPs sat on an impromptu protest and raised slogans against the “misuse” of agencies such as the ED and the suspension of Opposition MPs from both Houses of Parliament.
They also raised the issues of price rise and imposition of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on certain essential daily use items.
And in a rare show of unity, the party fielded prominent G-23 leaders, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma, who have been calling for internal reforms, along with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to address a press conference in which they claimed that “the law to prevent money laundering has been weaponised by the Modi government to humiliate people”.
In almost a repeat of Tuesday’s sequence, as Ms. Gandhi, accompanied by her children, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, reached the ED headquarters, MPs took out a march from Parliament but were stopped and detained.
“We are fighting on issues of people such as price rise and GST on essential items of daily use. We will keep fighting against this and the misuse of the ED and other agencies. The suspension of MPs is wrong and we demand that it be taken back immediately,” Mr. Kharge said.
Mr. Chowdhury said, “The manner in which investigative agencies are being used, it seems that the government wants an “Opposition-mukt Bharat” and the suspension of MPs in both the House is an Amrit Kaal gift”.
Minutes after the protest, the MPs were put in police vans and detained. “Today also our MPs have been detained. This is murder of democracy,” Mr. Ramesh told reporters as he was being taken by the police.
‘Right to reputation’
At the joint press conference, Mr. Sharma said the issue was not just about questioning of political rivals but also about their right to reputation and privacy.
“What has become a disturbing trend is that laws are being made more and more draconian, that threaten the foundational values of the Constitution, and the weaponisation of laws and their use is to target and humiliate,” Mr. Sharma said.
“Even in wars, kings used to give directions that women should not be attacked and those not keeping well should be spared,” Mr. Azad said, urging the agencies not to be harsh on the aged and ailing Ms. Gandhi.
