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Updated: Apr 16, 2025 15:08 IST
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 16 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tamil Nadu spokesperson ANS Prasad on Wednesday hit out at Congress amid the ongoing ruckus over the National Herald case, demanding an apology from Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for “contemptuous” remarks about the courts. He said that both leaders should consider resigning from their positions until the investigation is complete.
“Considering the severity of the allegations, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi should consider resigning from their positions until the investigation is complete,” Prasad said in a statement.
He said that Congress’ attempts to portray the court judgment as a “vendetta” by Prime Minister Modi will no longer deceive the public.
“Sonia, Rahul Gandhi, and Congress leaders should apologise for their contemptuous remarks about the courts in the National Herald case. The Congress party’s attempts to portray court judgments as a vendetta by Prime Minister Modi will no longer deceive the public. Their malicious propaganda won’t shield them from the law’s consequences. The party’s misinformation campaign aims to tarnish the government’s efforts towards India’s unity and sovereignty,” Prasad said.
The BJP leader stated that Congress’ claims of “vendetta politics” after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) named Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in the chargesheet as “malicious and condemnable”.
“The party’s recent claim that the Enforcement Directorate’s chargesheet against Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case is a result of the Prime Minister and Home Minister’s vendetta politics is malicious and condemnable,” he added.
He said that the chargesheet filed by the ED alleges financial irregularities, accusing Gandhi and others of “money laundering” and acquiring properties worth over Rs 2,000 crore through “dubious means.”
“The Enforcement Directorate’s chargesheet against him in the National Herald case, filed under Sections 44 and 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, alleges serious financial irregularities. Specifically, the agency accuses Gandhi and others of money laundering, acquiring properties worth over Rs 2,000 crore through dubious means,” Prasad said.
His reaction comes after Congress MP and party General Secretary in charge of Communications, Jairam Ramesh, said the ED action of filing a prosecution complaint against Sonia and Rahul Gandhi is nothing but “politics of vendetta intimidation” initiated by PM Modi.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Akhilesh Yadav asserted that the ED must be “abolished” since departments including Income Tax already exist to tackle economic offences.
“In my understanding, a department like ED must be abolished. I will ask Congress to ask for the same thing. There are several institutions that look into economic offences. Having ED means you are not even trusting your own organisations like the Income Tax department or GST,” Yadav, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, said in a press conference.
On Tuesday, the ED filed a prosecution complaint (chargesheet) in Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court against Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey and others, including several firms. The matter has been listed for arguments on cognisance in the Delhi Rouse Avenue Court on April 25. (ANI)