The Congress leadership is trying to use the Enforcement Directorate summonses to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to buttress the perception of political vendetta by the Narendra Modi government, alleging a conspiracy has been hatched to silence the BJP’s most vocal critics.

• Congress workers were detained Monday morning, ahead of their march to protest the action against party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case.
• Congress workers were put into buses as they raised slogans in support of their leaders. More Congress workers are expected to hit the streets later in the day, reports ndtv.com
• Earlier, Delhi Police imposed section 144 CrPC in the area around the Congress party headquarters at Akbar Road in the national capital, asking them not to violate the law.

With Rahul set to appear before the ED on Monday morning, Congress Working Committee members and all party MPs will assemble at the party headquarters in an expression of solidarity.

Some of them will accompany Rahul to the ED office, in all likelihood travelling on foot to create a media spectacle that will help highlight the vendetta angle. Some state units too have organised protests outside local ED offices.

The probe relates to alleged financial irregularities in the Congress-promoted Young Indian Pvt Ltd which owns the National Herald newspaper, published by Associated Journals Ltd.

Demonstrating that it is not ashamed of an investigation that it believes was prompted by political pressure in a fake case, the Congress organised news conferences in Lucknow, Bhopal, Raipur, Shimla, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Dehradun to publicise the facts of the case.

The party iterated that it was helping out a financially stressed National Herald, which was not a crime, and asserted that the money-laundering case was farcical as not even a paisa had moved anywhere.

While some linked the ED move to the Bharat Jodo Yatra that Rahul is to lead from October 2, others argued that Modi was desperate to divert people’s attention from the real issues.

The party also used the opportunity to project Rahul as the government’s most fearless critic, posting messages and videos on social media to refurbish his leadership credentials.

Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh said in Bhopal: “When not even a paisa has been taken by the Gandhi family from Young Indian or Associated Journals for personal use, a case is being falsely made out to intimidate them. This family didn’t surrender to the British. Will they be frightened by these conspiracies? Remember, they tried to silence Indira Gandhi using similar tactics. There is no question of fear, and the fight will go on.”

In Ahmedabad, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said: “Modi is the biggest coward. He is scared because Rahul Gandhi fearlessly asks questions…. But Rahul can’t be intimidated. Modi can succeed in his typical art of headline management by unleashing the ED but the political fight will not slow down.”

Sachin Pilot said in Lucknow: “There is not a single agency in the country that hasn’t been misused over the last eight years. The ED is Modi’s favourite tool. The facts of the National Herald case are known. A false impression is being created about wrongdoing by our leaders. We will cooperate with the investigation but a political vendetta is an entirely different issue. We will expose the conspiracy tomorrow. (As though) no BJP leader does any wrong — only Opposition leaders are targeted across the country.”

Pilot added: “Everybody knows that the central agencies are used to suppress the voice of the Opposition. They (government) use the agencies for political management. It is undeniable that Rahul has most fearlessly stood up against Modi in the last eight years. They know the political threat comes from him and hence he has to be threatened. But they won’t succeed.”