Adhir Ranjan slams Centre over attack on workers, says don't use vendetta

Alleging that the Delhi Police barged into the Congress headquarters and attacked the party leaders in a 'pre-planned' manner, Leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday accused the Centre of 'vendetta and violent politics'.

Chowdhury's remarks came after a delegation of Congress MPs led by him held a meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday over the treatment meted out to the party's legislators by the Delhi Police during their protest over the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe against the party leader Rahul Gandhi.

"We told the Speaker in detail, the manner in which we have been subjected to atrocities and violence. Speaker listened to us attentively. We spoke about Delhi Police officers who barged into the AICC office and attacked our MPs and workers in a pre-planned manner," Chowdhury told reporters after the meeting.

"Even at police stations, Delhi Police behaved with Congress MPs as if our MPs and workers are terrorists. Rahul Gandhi was called for three consecutive days for 10-12 hours long questioning. We do not object to it. We just want to say that do not use vendetta and violent politics," he added.

Prior to meeting Birla, the Congress MPs held a meeting at the Congress Parliamentary Party office to discuss the issue.

Later on Thursday, Congress leaders, general secretaries and AICC in-charges will meet at party headquarters today to discuss future strategies over the current political situation.

Congress on Wednesday filed a complaint against the Delhi Police for entering and attacking party workers, without provocation, at 24 Akbar Road.

The complaint was registered at Tughlak Road Police Station, New Delhi.

A delegation of senior Congress leaders including Avinash Pande, Harish Choudhary, Pranav Jha and Challa Vamshi Reddy met with the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) and Station House Officer (SHO).

The senior leaders presented a detailed written complaint highlighting "the brazen and illegal actions of officials of the Delhi police in entering and attacking workers of the INC, without provocation," at 24 Akbar Road during a conference held on Wednesday.

Senior Congress leaders Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, KC Venugopal and others were detained by Delhi Police and taken to Tughlak Road police station on Tuesday while they were protesting over Enforcement Directorate's (ED) probe against party leader Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case.

The leaders were protesting outside Congress headquarters, Akbar Road in the national capitalThe leaders detained by Delhi Police include Gaurav Gogoi, Deepender Singh Hooda, Ranjeet Ranjan, Imran Pratapgarhi and others.

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi has been asked to rejoin the probe on Friday by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in connection with the National Herald case, said sources.The Congress leader left the ED office after 9 pm on Wednesday.

The former Congress chief appeared before the ED for the third consecutive day on Wednesday for questioning.

Regarding his questioning by ED on Monday, as per official sources, the Congress leader, a Z+ category protectee of the Central Reserve Police Force after the Union government withdrew the Gandhi family's Special Protection Group cover in 2019, was confronted with several documents collated by the ED as evidence recovered so far in the case to get his version.

Rahul Gandhi was questioned in detail about the ownership of Young Indian Private Limited (YIL) by the Gandhi family and its shareholding pattern in Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the company that runs the National Herald newspaper, said sources.

Investigators in the ED, sources said, have also asked Rahul Gandhi to describe the circumstances under which AJL was acquired by YIL in 2010, making it the owner of all assets owned by the National Herald newspaper.

The National Herald, started by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, was published by the AJL. In 2010, the AJL, which faced financial difficulties, was taken over by a newly-floated YIL with Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda as directors, both of them Gandhi loyalists.

In a complaint in the Delhi High Court, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy accused Sonia Gandhi and her son, Rahul Gandhi, and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds.