Congress to demonstrate show of strength against ED summons to Rahul Gandhi

The Congress is all set to demonstrate a political show of strength on Monday when the party leader Rahul Gandhi will appear before the Enforcement Directorate ED in connection in connection with a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaperThe partys event is to convey its political message to Prime Minister Narendra Modiled BJP governmentMaharashtra Congress president Nana Patole alleged on Saturday that the BJP was misusing central agencies against Sonia and party MP Rahul Gandhi out of a political vendettaThe ED on Friday issued a fresh summons to Sonia Gandhi asking her to appear on June 23 for questioning in connection with the National Herald money laundering caseAccording to sources Congress MPs and Congress Working Committee CWC members have also been asked to be present in Delhi on MondayA meeting of All India Congress Committee AICC General Secretaries State Incharges and Pradesh Congress Committee PCC chiefs was called on Thursday to decide the strategy for the sameCongress leader Manickam Tagore said that party workers will hold demonstrations at around 25 offices of the probe agency across the country against the political vendata and the misuse of the central investigative agencies by the Central government to silence the voice of oppositionCongress held press conferences across the country today over summons issued against party president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi by ED in the National Herald caseHe was earlier summoned to join the investigation but he was out of the country and later he was given a fresh date of June 13 to join the probeMeanwhile the Congress party has alleged that it is a political vendetta and the case has no grounds for investigationThe ED also questioned senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress Treasurer Pawan Bansal in April this year in New Delhi in connection with its money laundering probe into the National Herald caseThe agency then recorded the statements of both the Congress leaders under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLA The National Herald is published by Associated Journals Limited AJL and owned by Young Indian Private Limited YIL While Kharge is the CEO of YIL Bansal is the Managing Director of AJLThe ED is currently investigating the shareholding pattern and financial transactions as well as the role of party functionaries in the functioning of the AJL and YILThe YIL promoters include Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul GandhiBJP MP Subramanian Swamy had alleged that the Gandhis cheated and misappropriated funds with YIL paying only Rs 50 lakh to obtain the right to recover Rs 9025 crore that AJL owed to the CongressHe had filed a complaint with a Delhi court earlier Following the court taking cognizance of an Income Tax Department probe against YIL on Swamys petition the ED also registered a fresh case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLAWith inputs from PTI