Congress Protests at Jantar Mantar: Satyagraha against ED and Centre’s Agnipath scheme

Congress organized a ‘Satyagraha’ today at Jantar Mantar in the national capital to protest the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) investigation into Rahul Gandhi in a money laundering case tied to the National Herald newspaper and the Centre’s newly established Agnipath recruiting initiative.

Mallikarjun Kharge, Salman Khurshid, K Suresh, V Narayanasamy, KC Venugopal, and other top Congress leaders attended the Satyagraha at Jantar Mantar. As Congress leader Rahul Gandhi prepares to appear before the ED for the fourth round of questioning on Monday, the party is protesting the Central government’s alleged “vendetta politics.”

Wayanad MP was questioned by the ED from June 13 to 15, despite fierce opposition from party officials and workers.

Notably, the ED had ordered Gandhi to appear again on Friday (June 17), but he requested that he be excused and asked for a fresh appointment on Monday (June 20).

Later that day, the ED summoned Rahul Gandhi to join the inquiry, allowing his plea to consider postponing his interrogation from June 17 to June 20, citing the health of his mother, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi.

Congress is also protesting the Agnipath recruiting initiative.

Congress leader Ajay Maken told reporters on Monday that the policy should first be addressed with the young before it is implemented. “The programme should be debated with youngsters and in Parliament first, but it should be withdrawn before that,” he continued.

On June 14, the Union Cabinet authorised Agnipath, a recruiting strategy for Indian youth to serve in the three Armed Forces services, and the young recruited under this scheme would be known as Agniveers.