Delhi Police detain protesting Congress MPs as ED quizzes Sonia Gandhi
Jul 27, 2022
New Delhi [India], July 27 : Delhi Police on Wednesday detained several Congress MPs and workers, who were protesting against the questioning of Sonia Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress MPs Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Gaurav Gogoi, KC Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Shakti Singh Goyal, Ranjeet Ranjan and Manickam Tagore among others were detained today. They were taken to Kingsway camp police line in a bus.
The Congress MPs led a protest march from Vijay Chowk to the President's House.
Congress MP Manish Tewari, who was detained, said they want to raise the voice of the common people in Parliament
"We want to raise the voice of the common people in Parliament. We were moving towards Rashtrapati Bhavan but were stopped by Police. We have been detained," said Tewari.
Congress MP Deepender Hooda said, "When MPs raise important issues in Parliament, they're suspended. During protests, our members are detained and taken to police lines. If MPs belong at police lines, then why is a new Parliament being constructed here?"
Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi appeared before the ED office in the national capital for the third round of questioning in connection with a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper. She was accompanied by her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
On Tuesday, ED questioned Sonia Gandhi for over six hours on the second day of her appearance.
Officials said her response was sought to around 30 questions regarding her involvement with the National Herald newspaper and Young Indian Pvt Ltd, the company under investigation.
Her questioning went on for nearly 2.5 hours beginning at 11 am and continuing after a 90-minute lunch break until 7 pm. It was conducted by a team led by additional director Monika Sharma.
During her questioning on Tuesday, the Lok Sabha MP from Rae Bareli was asked about the functioning and running of the newspaper, the role of its various office bearers, and her and Rahul Gandhi's involvement in the affairs of the National Herald and Young Indian.
Officials said the agency would also confirm her statement with that of Rahul Gandhi, as both are majority stakeholders in Young Indian Pvt Ltd.
Condemning the agency's action, Congress called it a "political vendetta".
Rahul Gandhi and Congress MPs were detained on Tuesday while holding a protest march from the Vijay Chowk to the Rashtrapati Bhavan to draw the President's attention to the alleged misuse of central agencies by the government when they were stopped by the police.
"I am not going anywhere. We wanted to go towards the President's house. But the police are not allowing us," Rahul Gandhi had said.
Earlier, Sonia Gandhi could not appear for questioning on June 8 after testing positive and being hospitalized for COVID-19.
Last month the ED also questioned Rahul Gandhi for five days in the National Herald case.
The case to investigate alleged financial irregularities under the PMLA was registered about nine months ago after a trial court took cognisance of an Income Tax department probe carried out on the basis of a private criminal complaint filed by former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013.
