New Delhi:
Announcing that Congress would continue its march in support of Rahul Gandhi, who is due to appear before the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case today, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala took a swipe at the BJP with a mockery of their ideological predecessors’ role in the freedom struggle. “The Satyagrah March will be held in a peaceful and Gandhian manner under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. Neither the British were able to stop him during the freedom struggle, nor the current ruling dispensation, which then served as informants for the British,” he said. Today.
Surjewala addressed the media today after congressional officials were detained in front of their march this morning to protest the action against party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case. The party has called the allegations in the case “bogus and baseless” and accuses the Prime Minister Modi-led government of intimidation over political vendetta.
He repeatedly called the Enforcement Directorate an “election management department”, and accused the Center of using the investigative agency for political accounting. “The cowardly Modi government has challenged the truth with the help of its pet agency. The truth needs no cover. It cannot be suppressed at will,” he said, claiming that thousands of congress workers have been detained by Delhi police and “thousands” barricades have been erected to stop the party’s march.
Surjewala also posted a detailed statement in Hindi, which he repeated during the press conference, on his Twitter account.
आगाज़ होगा गांधीवादी सत्याग्रह का
फिर आगाज़ होगा नई क्रांति का-कायर मोदी सरकार के खिलाफ
आज फिर आगाज़ होगा नए बलबले का-प्रजातंत्र को रौंदने वाली BJP के खिलाफ
फिर आगाज़ होगा साहस व संयम का- संविधान का दमन करने वाली ताकतों के खिलाफ
होगा गांधीवादी रणघोष
— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) June 13, 2022
Footage from New Delhi showed congressmen being detained and put on buses as they shouted slogans in support of their leaders. More congressional officials are expected to take to the streets later in the day as the party has planned this protest as a show of strength.
Delhi police had refused permission for the protest march last night, citing the “community and order and order” and VVIP movements. Congressional leaders had urged them to reconsider the decision, but to no avail.