Priyanka Gandhi Checks On Detained Congress Leaders At Delhi Police Station

New Delhi: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met party leaders inside the Tughlaq Road police station on Monday afternoon after they were detained during their protest in solidarity with party leader Rahul Gandhi, who appeared before the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case.

After some commotion at the gates of the police station, Ms Vadra was allowed in and sat with the leaders, including the party’s general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal.

Earlier, Ms Vadra accompanied her brother Rahul Gandhi to the ED office in a car. They also walked some of the way as part of the party’s Satyagraha march. Similar protests were held across Delhi and in other places.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot was among the protesters detained and taken to another location in Delhi. On his Twitter account, Mr Gehlot posted updates, including a video, from the bus in which he and others were being taken away. He alleged police highhandedness and said the ED investigation was another instance of “misuse of central agencies by the government”.

He tweeted in Hindi, “Today, the way the peaceful march of the Congress party is being stopped, this dictatorship is being watched by the whole country.”

“This is absolutely unfair in a democracy,” he further wrote.

यह लोकतंत्र में बिल्कुल अनुचित है।
राहुल जी और सोनिया जी को जो ईडी का नोटिस आया है, इसको देश का कार्यकर्ता बर्दाश्त नहीं करेगा, हर जिले में, हर ब्लॉक में आंदोलन हो रहे हैं, इनको समझना चाहिए कि न्याय रखो, कानून का राज स्थापित होने दो।#IndiaWithRahulGandhi

— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) June 13, 2022

Along with Mr Gehlot, the Congress leaders detained were Mallikarjun Kharge, Jairam Ramesh, Mukul Wasnik, Digvijay Singh, Deepender Hooda, Pawan Khera, PL Poonia, Gaurav Gogoi and Meenakshi Natarajan, who were taken away from central Delhi, where they were protesting, to an undisclosed location.

ईडी के दफ्तर जाते हुए दिल्ली पुलिस ने गिरफ्तार किया है। मल्लिकार्जुन खड़गे जी, जयराम रमेश जी, मुकुल वासनिक जी, दिग्विजय सिंह जी, दीपेंद्र हुड्डा जी, पवन खेड़ा जी, पीएल पूनिया जी, गौरव गोगोई जी, मीनाक्षी नटराजन जी सहित कांग्रेस नेताओं को सेन्ट्रल दिल्ली से दूर बस में बैठा कर
1/2 pic.twitter.com/XFTuTZcBQH

— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) June 13, 2022

Meanwhile, as Priyanka Gandhi Vadra spoke with party leaders inside, Congress workers outside the Tughlaq Road police station were put into buses and taken away by the police.

The Enforcement Directorate’s probe is about the alleged financial irregularities in Congress-promoted Young Indian Private Limited, which owns the National Herald newspaper. The newspaper is published by Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and owned by Young Indian Private Limited. It is now an online news platform. 

Rahul Gandhi is likely to be questioned about the incorporation of the company, operations of the National Herald and the funds transfer within the media establishment.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi too has been summoned in the case, but she had sought more time after she tested Covid positive. The agency has now issued her a fresh summons for June 23. On Sunday afternoon, she was admitted to a hospital in Delhi due to Covid-related issues.