The BJP on Wednesday accused the Congress of resorting to violent protests to "hide" its corruption, stating that the Opposition party's stir against Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi being summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an alleged case of graft shows its "progressive decline", the true "satya" of the "satyagraha" the Congress claimed it was undertaking on the issue.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi pointed out to Mahatma Gandhi's decision to call off the Congress led non-cooperation movement due to violence contrasting it with the present day "violent protests" by the Congress opposing the probe in a case of corruption. Mr. Trivedi also noted that the Congress leader, who is being questioned by the ED in the National Herald case, is neither the party's president nor the leader of the Opposition while questioning the Congress' show of strength for him. Both Chief Ministers belonging to the party (CMs of Rajasthan and Chattisgarh Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel) and most of its MPs are in Delhi as part of the Congress' protests against the ED's summons to the former party president.
Mr. Gandhi appeared before the ED for the third consecutive day on Wednesday for questioning in the National Herald money laundering case, with the agency seeking answers on decisions taken with regard to the media organisation and its owner Young Indian.
Congress leaders and workers staged protests outside the ED office and the party headquarters here and were detained by police. Several Youth Congress and Mahila Congress workers protesting outside the party office on Akbar Road were roughed up by the police and forcibly taken away, a party worker claimed.
