Friday, 17 June 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
On the directions of the central leadership of the Congress, party members took out a protest rally to the Raj Bhawan here on Thursday on the issue of the Enforcement Directorate questioning its leader Rahul Gandhi. Though the rally was prevented from reaching Raj Bhawan, the party leaders headed by Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Karan Mahara submitted a memorandum addressed to the President of India.
The Congress State media in-charge Rajiv Mehrishi informed that party members gathered at the Congress Bhawan and marched towards the Raj Bhawan under the PCC president’s leadership. The protesters were stopped by the police at the Hathibadkala barricading. Some of them were temporarily detained and taken to the police line. In the memorandum addressed to the President, the Congress members alleged the Central government is misusing government agencies for political retribution and harassing the leaders of the opposition. They claimed that the action of the Enforcement Directorate in the National Herald case involving former Congress president Rahul Gandhi is an example of the government misusing central agencies to vent its animosity. They repeated that National Herald newspaper was founded by leaders including Jawahar Lal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Purushottam Tandon, Narendra Dev, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai and other leaders in 1937. They claimed that Associated Journal Limited company was formed to lend a voice to the freedom movement. This newspaper had been banned by the British from 1942 to 1945 which according to MK Gandhi was a tragedy for the freedom movement. The Congress further claimed that despite the editorial excellence of the newspaper it consistently suffered financial loss due to which its debt reached Rs 90 crore. To help the newspaper overcome this crisis, the Congress loaned Rs 90 crore to the newspaper in 100 installments from 2002 to 2011. Out of this amount, the newspaper used Rs 67 crore to pay the salaries of its employees and facilitate VRS while the remaining amount was used to pay for electricity charges, property tax and other expenses. The Congress claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party and its supporters were acting with malice in this case. They further averred that this is a fight for the truth and that the truth always prevails. The Congress and Rahul Gandhi will come out shining out of this test, they added. They strongly condemned the action taken allegedly for political retribution.
