The Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee on Wednesday staged a protest outside the BJP state headquarters here, accusing the Narendra Modi-led Centre of misusing central investigative agencies, after a court rejected the Enforcement Directorate’s charge sheet against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case.
The protest was led by state Congress president Keshav Mahato Kamlesh. Party leaders and workers first assembled at Harmu Maidan and then marched to the BJP office, where they raised slogans against the Centre and the BJP, alleging political vendetta through agencies such as the ED and the CBI.
Addressing the gathering, Kamlesh said the Centre had crossed all limits in the alleged misuse of constitutional agencies to harass opposition leaders. He claimed the case against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi was filed without an FIR and was aimed at defaming the Congress leadership. The court’s order, he said, had upheld the authority of the Constitution and the independence of the judiciary.
He alleged that a money laundering case was registered despite there being no financial transaction or transfer of property, and said the prolonged questioning of the two leaders amounted to mental harassment. Terming it a rare case, Kamlesh said the proceedings were reportedly initiated on the basis of a private criminal complaint, whereas cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act are generally registered on the basis of complaints by constitutional authorities or the police.
Kamlesh further alleged that the Centre was using investigative agencies to intimidate opposition leaders and representatives of non-BJP-ruled states. He said the government had been exposed before the people of the country and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Several senior Congress leaders, including party co-incharge Sreebella Prasad, Congress Legislature Party leader Pradeep Yadav, former state president Rajesh Thakur, and a large number of party functionaries and workers, were present during the protest.