Cong Calls Herald Charge Sheet 'Political Vendetta'; BJP Denies

The Congress termed as political vendetta, the Enforcement Directorate's charge sheet against party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald money laundering case.

- Saubhadra Chatterji

NEW DELHI: The party's legal expert Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, "Now that there is nothing more than a charge sheet filed in a fake, non-existent case, this is being contested and will be contested fully in all aspects."

The charge sheet also triggered reactions from other opposition parties, which denounced ED's move and said the agency was being weaponised to target the opposition.

The Congress leadership, according to functionaries aware of the developments, has already held several rounds of consultations with Singhvi, who is set to represent the Gandhis in this case. It has also asked all its state units to organise protests in front of ED's regional offices in every district starting Wednesday. In a letter to all state units, general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal said, "These protests must involve senior state leaders, MLAs, MLCs, leaders of frontal organisations, party functionaries and all Congress workers, to register our strong opposition to the Modi government's political vendetta and intimidation."

This is the first time the Gandhis have been charge-sheeted in the National Herald case.

But, the BJP asked the Congress to not politicise the issue. BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said, "This is a technical matter. The Congress party should keep in mind that this issue goes back to 2012, and the Delhi high court started this case in October 2013 after a PIL. The case was registered when PM Modi's government was yet to take over. Therefore, there is no basis for the Congress party to do politics on this..."

The Congress also termed the charge sheet an effort by the BJP to divert attention from real issues.

Venugopal posted on X: "This reeks of desperation from the PM and Home Minister, who are failing to address the concerns of the people and are looking to continuously create distraction after distraction."