Congress members and leaders of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh on Thursday staged demonstrations, accusing the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre of misusing Central agencies for “political vendetta”.
Also read: Delhi Congress, IYC stage protest against ED’s questioning of Sonia Gandhi
The demonstrations were held in Chandigarh and Shimla as Congress president Sonia Gandhi appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in New Delhi in connection with an alleged money laundering case pertaining to the National Herald.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said it was not the fight of Ms. Gandhi alone, but it was the fight of each and every citizen of the country who supported democracy, freedom and liberty.
Leader of the Opposition in Punjab Assembly Sabha Partap Singh Bajwa alleged the Central government was trying to intimidate the Congress leadership. He said the government also knew that nothing was going to come out of this case but it only wanted to create a false perception.
Former Haryana Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition in Haryana Assembly Bhupinder Singh Hooda charged that the BJP government was using the investigating agencies as a political weapon. “The agencies seem to be working under the party rather than the government and their effort is to suppress every voice raised against the government. This will lower public confidence in institutions, which is not good for democracy,” he said.
Mr. Hooda said that autonomous institutions should work in a free and fair manner instead of “going hand in hand” with the government. “But due to political hatred, Ms. Gandhi and former party president Rahul Gandhi are being harassed,” he said.
In Shimla, Sanjay Dutt, co-incharge for Congress party affairs in Himachal Pradesh, alleged that the BJP was harassing Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi because they had been forcefully opposing the “anti-people policies of the BJP”.
