'Ideological Opponents Should Not Be Treated As Personal Opponents': Congress Targets Centre As Sonia Gandhi Appears Before ED

On Wednesday Congress President Sonia Gandhi recorded her statement with the enforcement agency for the third time in connection with an alleged money laundering scam in the National Herald case.

New Delhi: The Congress party on Wednesday held a press conference on the third day of questioning Sonia Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with an alleged money laundering scam in the National Herald case. Condemning the move by the enforcement agency, Congress leader and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that the "ED has spread terror in the country". 

"ED has become more powerful than the CBI despite having a success rate of less than 5 per cent. ED has spread terror in the country and the Supreme Court should decide on this. First, they called Rahul Gandhi Ji and now they have called Sonia Gandhi Ji," Gehlot said. 

"They have got a different way of investigating, arresting, and recording statements," he further alleged. 

Gehlot further aimed at the enforcement agency and said that the agency is "being used to topple the government, but it can't set the cabinet as is evident from the situation in Maharashtra." 

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad who was also present at the press conference said that there was no point in calling Sonia Gandhi for interrogation time and again as the agency has the papers and had already called Rahul Gandhi for questioning. "I don't understand why the ED is calling Sonia Gandhi again and again. She is old and has not been keeping well. The agency has all the papers and has already interrogated Rahul Gandhi for days in double shifts," said the Congress leader. 

Another Congress veteran Anand Sharma said that "ideological opponents in a democracy should not be treated as personal opponents." 

"Weaponisation of laws and their use to target has been going on. These facts are in the public domain, in the records of all courts. This is not something unknown. Media has also commented," Sharma said further. 

On Wednesday Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi recorded her statement with the enforcement agency for the third time in connection with the case. She reached the federal agency's office in central Delhi at 11 am with her daughter Priyanka Gandhi and son Rahul Gandhi. 

The 75-year-old Gandhi has been questioned for over eight hours during the last two appearances, where she faced close to 65-70 questions, reported news agency PTI. The questioning is expected to end Wednesday with the agency putting across a set of another 30-40 questions to Gandhi, as per the report.