New Delhi:A furious Rahul Gandhi on Thursday hit back at PM Modi saying he was not afraid of the premier and dubbed the ED raids on National Herald as an attempt to intimidate the Congress party.
“I am not afraid of Modi. The National Herald case is an attempt to intimidate. They think they can silence us by applying some pressure. But we are not going to be silent against what Narendra Modi ji and Amit Shah ji are doing against democracy in the country. They can do anything but it does not affect us,” a visibly angry Rahul said.
When asked about the comments of BJP leader Sambit Patra that the ruling party will not allow the Congress to run away from the political battle, Rahul said, “Who is running away? They are in fact talking about running away and not we. We will not be intimidated. I will keep doing my work, which is to protect the country, protect democracy and maintain social harmony. That I will keep doing,” said Rahul.
The Wayanad MP then spent some time chatting with party colleagues inside the Central Hall of Parliament, where the Congress protested the ED raids earlier in the day. The tough stance from the former Congress chief came a day after the grand old party alleged that it had been put under siege with heavy deployment of security forces outside the party national headquarters at 24, Akbar Road, Sonia Gandhi’s 10 Janpath residence and Rahul’s 12, Tughlak Lane residence.
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Accordingly, Rahul has asked the party leaders to prepare for the August 5 nationwide agitation against the ED targeting the National Herald as well as against the Centre’s policies that led to price rise and unemployment, said the sources. As the Delhi police has asked the Congress not to protest on August 5 and Rahul is determined to go ahead with the plan, the party leaders are preparing for another day of showdown.
On Wednesday, as senior leaders Jairam Ramesh, Ajay Maken and Abhishek Manu Singhvi slammed the Centre for targeting the party and its leadership, most of the top leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge, Digvijay Singh, Shakti Sinh Gohil, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury among others gathered at the party headquarters to chalk out the future strategy, including the plans to reach the President’s House and the PM’s house on Friday.
AICC Treasurer Pawan Bansal, who had visited the National Herald House on the Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg on Wednesday, along with Mallikarjun Kharge to take stock of the ED raids, clarified on Thursday that only the offices of the Young Indian, the company which owns the newspaper, had been sealed temporarily. He said that the Congress was fully cooperating in the probe and that a representative from the Young Indian would visit the office during the day. Kharge, the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, was again summoned by ED on Thursday, provoking Ramesh to question the move.
"Kharge was summoned by the ED when Parliament is in session. He left at around 12.30 pm and presented himself. This is Modishahi reaching new lows," Ramesh tweeted.
