ED raids on Herald property: Cong slams ‘vendetta politics’
8 min readBy PTI
NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate raids on the head workplace of the Congress-owned National Herald newspaper right here and different places evoked a pointy response from the Opposition get together which condemned the motion as “vendetta politics”, even because the ruling BJP asserted that regulation would take its personal course.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the top workplace of the National Herald newspaper right here and 11 different places as a part of an ongoing cash laundering investigation, officers mentioned, per week after it questioned Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
The searches had been carried out underneath the legal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to “gather additional evidence with regard to the trail of funds and they are against those entities who were involved in the National Herald-linked transactions”, the officers mentioned.
Reacting sharply, Congress common secretary Jairam Ramesh mentioned, “The raids on Herald House, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg are a part of the continued attack against India’s principal opposition — Indian National Congress.”
“We strongly condemn this vendetta politics against those who speak up against the Modi Govt. You cannot silence us!” he mentioned.
Reacting to Ramesh’s allegation, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla requested if the denial of any reduction to the Gandhi household by courts on this matter was additionally “vendetta”.
BJP common secretary C T Ravi additionally responded to Ramesh’s cost, saying there’s nothing “Indian nor National about the INC”.
“Corrupt Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi are facing action from the ED for the only reason that they looted the Congress in the National Herald case. Slaves can call it vendetta, but the law will take its own course,” Ravi mentioned.
At a Congress get together press convention right here, get together spokesperson Supriya Shrinate mentioned the raids on National Herald is a ploy to divert consideration from worth rise and unemployment.
“In Independent India, there is perhaps no other governmental and no other place, where politics has sunk to this rock bottom. To settle petty personal scores, to intimidate India’s opposition, the Modi government is doing exactly what the British did during the freedom struggle. During the freedom struggle, the British had banned and had raided National Herald, that’s exactly what the Modi government is doing,” Shrinate mentioned.
“You have questioned the Congress President for three days, you have questioned the former Congress President for 50 hours. Either the ED is completely incompetent and has not been able to gather enough (evidence) or the ED has actually become the Election Department of the BJP and that seems to be exactly what the ED has reduced itself to,” she alleged.
The actuality of the day is there are solely two points that matter on this nation — worth rise and unemployment — and regardless of how onerous the federal government tries, the Congress will proceed to lift these related points, Shrinate mentioned.
“There may be some people who may be intimidated by what your agencies can do, the Indian National Congress is certainly not one of those. We condemn it, we will fight it, but we will continue to expose the failures of this government because the future of our youth is at stake due to unemployment and every Indian is suffering and reeling under high prices,” she mentioned.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram claimed that the ED has develop into a “weapon of mass destruction” and could be often called the “hatchet agency” of the federal government.
He made these remarks whereas hitting out on the BJP authorities for the ED raids.
Comparing the ED with Stasi of East Germany and Schutzstaffel of Nazi Germany, Chidambaram mentioned, “During Second World War, Stasi was used as hatchet agency for East Germany and Schutzstaffel by Nazi Germany. When the history of this country is written, the ED will be known as the hatchet agency of the BJP.”
“The ED has now become a weapon of mass destruction. And the entire exercise of the ED is only to embarrass or humiliate political opponents,” he alleged.
He additional mentioned they’re being harassed for the transactions which have been captured within the books of accounts and revenue tax returns filed.
“I can’t see any reason why an agency would want to raid premises after 12 years. Even by law, you’re not required to keep financial records beyond eight years. So this is only for the voyeuristic pleasure of certain people who want to see the opposition being crushed, humiliated and harassed,” Chidambaram advised reporters.
The raids come after the probe company questioned Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her MP son Rahul Gandhi at its headquarters right here.
While Sonia Gandhi was questioned for greater than 11 hours, unfold over three rounds, final month, Rahul Gandhi was probed by the ED for 5 days, at intervals, clocking over 50 hours in June.
Senior Congress politicians like Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Bansal had been additionally questioned by the ED in April.
The National Herald is revealed by the Associated Journals Ltd.(AJL), and its holding firm is Young Indian.
Officers of the federal company searched the workplace of the National Herald situated within the ‘Herald House’ constructing at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg close to ITO in central Delhi.
The workplace is registered within the title of AJL.
NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate raids on the head workplace of the Congress-owned National Herald newspaper right here and different places evoked a pointy response from the Opposition get together which condemned the motion as “vendetta politics”, even because the ruling BJP asserted that regulation would take its personal course.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the top workplace of the National Herald newspaper right here and 11 different places as a part of an ongoing cash laundering investigation, officers mentioned, per week after it questioned Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
The searches had been carried out underneath the legal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to “gather additional evidence with regard to the trail of funds and they are against those entities who were involved in the National Herald-linked transactions”, the officers mentioned.
Reacting sharply, Congress common secretary Jairam Ramesh mentioned, “The raids on Herald House, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg are a part of the continued attack against India’s principal opposition — Indian National Congress.”
“We strongly condemn this vendetta politics against those who speak up against the Modi Govt. You cannot silence us!” he mentioned.
Reacting to Ramesh’s allegation, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla requested if the denial of any reduction to the Gandhi household by courts on this matter was additionally “vendetta”.
BJP common secretary C T Ravi additionally responded to Ramesh’s cost, saying there’s nothing “Indian nor National about the INC”.
“Corrupt Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi are facing action from the ED for the only reason that they looted the Congress in the National Herald case. Slaves can call it vendetta, but the law will take its own course,” Ravi mentioned.
At a Congress get together press convention right here, get together spokesperson Supriya Shrinate mentioned the raids on National Herald is a ploy to divert consideration from worth rise and unemployment.
“In Independent India, there is perhaps no other governmental and no other place, where politics has sunk to this rock bottom. To settle petty personal scores, to intimidate India’s opposition, the Modi government is doing exactly what the British did during the freedom struggle. During the freedom struggle, the British had banned and had raided National Herald, that’s exactly what the Modi government is doing,” Shrinate mentioned.
“You have questioned the Congress President for three days, you have questioned the former Congress President for 50 hours. Either the ED is completely incompetent and has not been able to gather enough (evidence) or the ED has actually become the Election Department of the BJP and that seems to be exactly what the ED has reduced itself to,” she alleged.
The actuality of the day is there are solely two points that matter on this nation — worth rise and unemployment — and regardless of how onerous the federal government tries, the Congress will proceed to lift these related points, Shrinate mentioned.
“There may be some people who may be intimidated by what your agencies can do, the Indian National Congress is certainly not one of those. We condemn it, we will fight it, but we will continue to expose the failures of this government because the future of our youth is at stake due to unemployment and every Indian is suffering and reeling under high prices,” she mentioned.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram claimed that the ED has develop into a “weapon of mass destruction” and could be often called the “hatchet agency” of the federal government.
He made these remarks whereas hitting out on the BJP authorities for the ED raids.
Comparing the ED with Stasi of East Germany and Schutzstaffel of Nazi Germany, Chidambaram mentioned, “During Second World War, Stasi was used as hatchet agency for East Germany and Schutzstaffel by Nazi Germany. When the history of this country is written, the ED will be known as the hatchet agency of the BJP.”
“The ED has now become a weapon of mass destruction. And the entire exercise of the ED is only to embarrass or humiliate political opponents,” he alleged.
He additional mentioned they’re being harassed for the transactions which have been captured within the books of accounts and revenue tax returns filed.
“I can’t see any reason why an agency would want to raid premises after 12 years. Even by law, you’re not required to keep financial records beyond eight years. So this is only for the voyeuristic pleasure of certain people who want to see the opposition being crushed, humiliated and harassed,” Chidambaram advised reporters.
The raids come after the probe company questioned Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her MP son Rahul Gandhi at its headquarters right here.
While Sonia Gandhi was questioned for greater than 11 hours, unfold over three rounds, final month, Rahul Gandhi was probed by the ED for 5 days, at intervals, clocking over 50 hours in June.
Senior Congress politicians like Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Bansal had been additionally questioned by the ED in April.
The National Herald is revealed by the Associated Journals Ltd.(AJL), and its holding firm is Young Indian.
Officers of the federal company searched the workplace of the National Herald situated within the ‘Herald House’ constructing at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg close to ITO in central Delhi.
The workplace is registered within the title of AJL.
