Congress holds protest in Karnataka against ED questioning Sonia Gandhi

The Congress committees in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi on Friday held protests in Mangaluru and Udupi to protest against the Enforcement Directorate's interrogation of party president Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress district committees in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi on Friday held protests in Mangaluru and Brahmavar in Udupi to protest against the Enforcement Directorate's interrogation of party president Sonia Gandhi.

Addressing protesters here, former minister B Ramanath Rai said the BJP government at the Centre has hatched a political conspiracy against the opposition leaders and was misusing central agencies against them as part of their vendetta politics.

Former MLC Ivan D'Souza, who also spoke, the party strongly condemns the ED action against Sonia Gandhi. Madhu Bangarappa in his speech, alleged that the BJP is misusing power through ED, IT and CBI to wreak vengeance on opposition leaders.

A protest rally was taken out by Congress workers from the clock tower to the office of the deputy commissioner. The rally was stopped by the police in front of the town hall.

In Udupi, the party staged a massive protest at Brahmavar against the ED action against the Congress president.

MLA U T Khader, who addressed the protesters, said Sonia Gandhi was a leader who refused the opportunity to become the prime minister of the country. The ED action against her is part of BJP's dirty politics, he said.

Former MLA Abhayachandra Jain said Congress has a rich pre-independence history. The efforts of the BJP, which was formed after the country got freedom, to make India Congress-free are doomed to fail, he said.

Former minister Vinay Kumar Sorake alleged that the BJP is uprooting democracy in the country. The ruling party is also blatantly using religion to divide the people for narrow political gains, he charged.