An unruffled, smiling Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that even Enforcement Directorate officials had now understood that a Congress leader cannot be frightened, boldly declaring that “ED-FEEDEE” can’t alter his convictions.

These words delighted the anxious Congress leaders and workers who had assembled at the party headquarters from across the country to see what psychological and political impact the 60-hour grilling by the central investigation agency had had on their young leader.

They returned reassured that Rahul’s confidence hadn’t been dented and that he was determined to fight the Narendra Modi government without fear or compromise.

“Lies get exhausted, the truth is indefatigable,” Rahul, whose ED questioning in the National Herald money-laundering case ended on Tuesday night, told a massive crowd in the presence of senior leaders, MPs and MLAs who had come from various states to express solidarity with him.

“Forget ED. That’s a small matter,” Rahul said, insisting that the real concern was unemployment and that the Congress should get ready for a big battle against Modi on this front, including the Agnipath scheme.

Narrating the experience of the ED grilling, Rahul said: “There was a small room; a table in the middle and a computer. Three officers were asking questions. They used to go out and come back but I was sitting in my chair, straight, without any discomfort. They asked me after 10-11 hours, how come I was not tired. They said, ‘We are exhausted but you aren’t tired. What’s the secret?’”

Rahul added: “I thought, let me give a false reply. I told them I do vipassana, and sitting for long hours is not a problem. But the truth is, Rahul Gandhi was not sitting in the room alone. All the Congress leaders and workers were sitting there with me. You gave me strength.

“Whoever is fearlessly fighting this regime, whoever is worried for democracy, was sitting with me in that room. The ED didn’t summon all these people but their strength was with me. How can I feel tired?”

On the last day of questioning, Rahul recalled, they had asked him what gave him the patience to sit through the sessions and reply to all the questions.

“I didn’t tell them but what else would I have learnt working for the Congress since 2004? Patience, I learnt (that) in the Congress,” he laughed.

“Look, Sachin Pilot is sitting here patiently; (P.C.) Siddaramaiah is sitting. The Congress teaches you patience. There (in the BJP) you don’t need patience. You fold your hands, bow your heads and avoid telling the truth and you will succeed.”

Rahul repeatedly asked the party to focus on Agnipath and the job crisis.

“I said Modi would have to take back the farm laws come what may. He had to withdraw them. Agnipath will also have to be taken back. True patriotism is strengthening the armed forces, not weakening them,” he said.

“Be ready for the battle. Every youth who was preparing for (armed forces) recruitment, waking up early in the morning to run, will stand by us. This is a new fraud by the Modi government; we will get it scrapped.”

The former Congress president added: “Modi has broken the backbone of India by demolishing MSMEs, which create jobs. It is impossible to give jobs to our youth now. The armed forces were the last recourse for the youth but Modi has closed that door too.

“They sang one-rank-one-pension and delivered no-rank-no-pension. Take it from me, those who retire after four years won’t get any job. This scheme will have consequences in a war. The army needed to be made stronger but Modi weakened it. China is sitting inside our territory.”

Under the Agnipath scheme, three-fourths of recruits to the bottom ranks in the armed forces would be demobbed after four years of service without pension or gratuity.

Although Wednesday’s event had been organised primarily to ensure that party workers got a glimpse of their leader, all the speakers were told they should dwell on both Agnipath and the ED questioning.

Shaktisinh Gohil, who was conducting the meeting, repeatedly chanted a slogan from the dais: “Na suraksha hai na pension hai, Agnipath toh bas tension hai (Neither security nor pension, Agnipath is all about tension).”

Written notes have been sent to party office-bearers, MPs and MLAs across the country on Agnipath and the National Herald money-laundering case so that a factual conversation could be held with the people.

K.C. Venugopal, party general secretary in charge of organisation, announced that the Congress would hold protests in every district against Agnipath on June 27.

“Can you deploy a soldier trained for only six months on the India-China border? Veterans have said that to operate weapons systems like Brahmos, Pinaki or Vajra, a soldier needs training of four years,” former finance minister P. Chidambaram said.

“What kind of camaraderie will the soldiers feel when 75 out of 100 will be preparing to leave? This will spoil the army.”

Chidambaram said that party leaders and workers should not fear the National Herald case as no wrong had been committed. Randeep Surjewala too said the ED questioning owed to political vendetta.

Adhir Chowdhury and Mallikarjun Kharge said Modi was trying to silence Rahul, and Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel recalled how Delhi police had cracked down on Congress workers, humiliated MPs and other leaders, and blocked entry to the party headquarters.

Baghel said the objective was to intimidate and harass those standing by Rahul but it had failed miserably. He said the battle would be pursued till the end.

Sonia request

Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday requested the Enforcement Directorate to reschedule her questioning because of illness, and the request was accepted.

Party’s communication chief Jairam Ramesh tweeted: “Since she has been strictly advised rest at home following her hospitalisation on account of Covid and lung infection, Congress president Smt. Sonia Gandhi has written to ED today seeking the postponement of her appearance there by a few weeks till she has recovered completely.”