Indian opposition leader Sonia Gandhi questioned in money-laundering probe
Complaint against party president and her son Rahul Gandhi was lodged nine years ago
New Delhi: Indian opposition leader Sonia Gandhi was questioned by money laundering investigators on Thursday, prompting her Congress Party to accuse the government of running a “political vendetta”.
The complaint against 75-year-old party president and her son Rahul Gandhi was lodged nine years ago by a member of parliament from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Rahul Gandhi, who is also a senior figure in Congress, was questioned several times last month in connection with the same case. They have both denied any wrongdoing.
“This is a conspiracy to silence us and the intention is to rid the country of any opposition parties,” Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera told reporters on Thursday, before Gandhi left for questioning at the finance ministry’s Enforcement Directorate.
A spokesman for the directorate, which investigates money laundering and violations of foreign exchange laws, was not available for comment.
Lawmakers from the Congress party staged a protest inside and outside parliament, holding posters and shouting slogans that accused the government of pursuing a political vendetta.
The BJP lawmaker behind the complaint, Subramanian Swamy, accused the Gandhis of forming a shell company and illegally gaining control of property worth $300 million.
The assets had belonged to a firm that published the National Herald newspaper, founded in 1937 by India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who was Rahul Gandhi’s great grandfather.
Detained
Seventy-five Congress MPs including Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and several workers were detained by the Delhi Police for demonstrations against the questioning of the party chief.
Senior Congress leaders including P Chidambaram, Ajay Maken, Manickam Tagore, KC Venugopal, Adhir Ranjan Chaudhry, Shashi Tharoor, Sachin Pilot, and Harish Rawat. Ashok Gehlot, K Suresh were among those detained.
Congress workers in Nagpur were also detained in the wake of the protest.
The protest by the Congress turned violent in Bengaluru as the Youth Congress workers allegedly set a car on fire, in front of ED office.
Congress workers also stopped a train and blocked railway tracks at New Delhi’s Shivaji Bridge railway station.
Chandigarh Police also used water cannons to disperse Congress workers and leaders as they protested over the questioning.
Party leader Jairam Ramesh said party MPs and CWC Members have courted mass arrest outside the party’s central office in a show of collective solidarity with Sonia Gandhi.