Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Thursday claimed the BJP not only wants to erase the memories of late Congress leaders Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, but it also wants to "destroy" prospects of the Nehru-Gandhi lineage. An editorial in the Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' lashed out at the Centre over the questioning of senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.
By questioning Gandhi, the BJP is trying to show that it can grab anyone's collar, however powerful the person is, the Marathi daily said and dubbed this as arrogance of power. "The BJP not only wants to erase the memories of Pandit Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, but it also wants to destroy prospects of the Nehru-Gandhi lineage," it claimed.
Today it is Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, tomorrow it could be anyone, it said. "The government is only short of constructing poisonous gas chambers built by Hitler for eliminating opponents, it claimed. Then how can there be equality of law? the Sena editorial asked. While parties like the Shiv Sena, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Samajwadi Party, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC) are under the ED's scanner, the agency is never seen raiding a BJP politician, it said.
The ED's only job is to frame (former Maharashtra minister) Anil Deshmukh, (state minister) Nawab Malik (both currently in jail), Abhishek Banerjee (TMC), Sanjay Raut, Anil Parab (both of the Shiv Sena) and Lalu Prasad Yadav (RJD), it alleged.
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Rahul Gandhi appeared before the ED on Wednesday for the third consecutive day of questioning in the National Herald money laundering case, with the agency seeking answers about his "personal role" in taking decisions with regard to the media organisation and its owner Young Indian. The Congress has claimed there was no FIR or scheduled offence in this case, on the basis of which a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was filed and Rahul Gandhi and his mother, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, were summoned.
The Shiv Sena said the Enforcement Directorate could not even provide a copy of the FIR in the National Herald money laundering case, demanded by Congress leader and former Union finance minister P Chidambaram, nor could they provide answers to questions posed by him. PTI