The road to AICC headquarters in New Delhi was blocked on Wednesday with the Congress alleging the party was "under siege" while the police said barricades have been erected and its personnel deputed to avoid any untoward situation.
This came soon after the ED temporarily sealed the premises of Young Indian (YI) in the Congress-owned National Herald office in Delhi as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh shared a video showing heavy police presence outside the AICC headquarters here and the road sealed for traffic.
The barricades were later removed.
"Delhi Police blocking the road to AICC Headquarters has become a norm rather than an exception! Why have they just done so is mysterious...," Ramesh tweeted.
"The Congress is under siege. Delhi police has surrounded our HQs, and homes of INC President and ex-President. This is the worst form of vendetta politics. We will not submit! We will not be silenced! We will continue to raise our voice against injustices and failures of Modi Sarkar!," he said in another tweet.
A senior Delhi police officer said, "We have received inputs from our special branch that some protesters might gather at the Congress office situated on Akbar Road. So, as a preventive measure, we have put barricades and deputed our personnel to avoid any untoward situation."
In a tweet in Hindi, the Congress said, "The voice of truth will not be afraid of police guards. Gandhi's followers will fight and win from this darkness."
Sealing the office of the Young India in National Herald building, bringing the Congress headquarters under police guards show both the "fear and frustration of the dictator", the party said, adding that questions of inflation and unemployment will still be asked.
Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid, while entering the AICC headquarters, told reporters that there is nothing in the case of money laundering investigation as there is "no money involved, so no question of laundering".
"I have come to my party office, if there is any information here I will get it. Everyday party workers, MPs are being stopped...you (media) are also stopped, you must not stop and keep doing your job," he told reporters.
"The party headquarters is central to one's political life and I have come here. We have said very clearly that there is nothing in the case of money laundering investigation as there is no money involved so no question of laundering," Khurshid said.
Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge also raised the issue in the upper house and alleged that the police have barricaded the residence of the Congress president, former Congress president and the party headquarters.
He was not allowed to raise the issue by the chair, but he said that if he will not raise the issue in the house, where else should be go.
On Tuesday, the ED raided the head office of the National Herald newspaper in Delhi and 11 other locations as part of its probe. The ED had earlier questioned Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi in the case.
In the Rajya sabha Congress MPs walked out towards the end of proceedings on Wednesday after the chair did not permit party leader Mallikarjun Kharge to raise the issue of alleged police barricading outside the residences of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.
While Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Anurag Thakur was replying to the debate on The National Anti-Doping Bill, 2022, Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress member Kharge stood up and said the residences of his party president Sonia Gandhi and former president Rahul Gandhi have been "surrounded by the Delhi police".
However, Deputy Chairman Harivansh, who was presiding over the proceedings, did not allow him to raise the issue.
"If I do not speak in the House, where else will I speak?" Kharge said.
In the meantime, Leader of the House and Union Minister Piyush Goyal too joined the issue, saying the matter does not concern the Rajya Sabha.
"There is an order in the House and the Bill is being discussed. Law is taking its course," Goyal said, taking a jibe on the Congress, saying they should have thought of about the consequences while engaging in such activities, hinting at the money laundering case against Sonia and Rahul Gandhi being probed by the Enforcement Directorate.
Amid the uproar, the Congress members walked out of the House.
© 2024 Rediff.com -