Tamil Nadu CM Stalin condemns Rahul's questioning by ED, terms it vendetta

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin condemned the Enforcement Directorate (ED)'s questioning of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and called it an outrageous act of political vendetta against the Congress party.

"I condemn the outrageous act of political vendetta against Congress party and its leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi by the ruling BJP government using the Enforcement Directorate," tweeted Stalin.

He took a jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stating the parties should lock horns politically and 'not by forcing ED'.

"Having no answers to the pressing issues of the common man, BJP uses such diversionary tactics to save itself from the public ire. Political opponents should be fought politically, not by 'forcing' the Enforcement Directorate," he said in another tweet.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday left the ED office in Delhi after the second consecutive day of questioning in the National Herald case and has been asked to appear for the third day of questioning.

The 51-year-old senior Congress leader reached ED headquarters around 11.07 am along with his sister Priyanka Gandhi and was deposed before the investigators shortly after his entry into the building.

The former Congress president, 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 asked again to join the probe as investigators were not satisfied with the answers he gave to them during questioning on Monday, said official sources.

As per the sources, the Congress leader will be again questioned about the ownership of Young Indian Private Limited (YIL) by the Gandhi family and its shareholding in Associate Journals Limited (AJL), the company that runs the National Herald newspaper. Investigators will also question about 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.

Officials familiar with the probe said Rahul Gandhi is being asked questions about the takeover of the AJL by YIL since the Gandhis have stakes in the latter.

The central anti-money laundering probe agency is expected to confront the Congress leader with the documents about alleged irregularities later in the day. The Lok Sabha member from Wayanad in Kerala is being questioned under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED also learnt to record the statement of Rahul Gandhi to know about the incorporation of the YIL, the operations of the National Herald and the fund transfer within the news media establishment.

The ED is also investigating the financial transactions as well as the role of party functionaries in the functioning of AJL and YIL.National Herald is published by the Associated AJL and owned by YIL.It is also learnt that the ED will take the written statement of Rahul Gandhi statement under Section 50 of the PMLA.