Sonia Gandhi summoned before ED for 2nd round of questioning today
26 July, 2022 | Vaishali Sharma
Sonia Gandhi, the interim head of the Congress, is expected to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday for her second round of interrogation in the money laundering case involving...
Sonia Gandhi, the interim head of the Congress, is expected to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday for her second round of interrogation in the money laundering case involving the National Herald newspaper.
On July 22, the ED summoned Congress President to attend the investigation into the National Herald case on July 26. The investigation agency first called her on Monday, but it was postponed by one day.
The Enforcement Directorate questioned the Congress head on July 21, and the interview lasted nearly two hours. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Sonia Gandhi’s daughter and party leader, had accompanied her to the ED office.
According to sources, Sonia Gandhi was asked over two dozen questions “after which she asked to go home for her medication”.
On July 21, the ED kept two doctors and an ambulance on standby as a humanitarian gesture, according to agency sources. Sonia Gandhi’s daughter and party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was also permitted to visit the federal agency.
Congress leaders have opposed the ED summons to the party’s interim chairman in several regions of the nation. The Delhi Police detained 75 Congress MPs, including Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, and numerous others for protesting the interrogation of the party president.
P Chidambaram, Ajay Maken, Manickam Tagore, KC Venugopal, Adhir Ranjan Chaudhry, Shashi Tharoor, Sachin Pilot, and Harish Rawat are among the senior Congress leaders. Those detained were Ashok Gehlot and K Suresh.
All MPs and leaders of Congress who were detained at New Police Line, Kingsway Camp were later released.
The protest by the Congress turned violent in Bengaluru as the Youth Congress workers allegedly set a car on fire, in front of the ED office.
Congress workers also stopped a train and blocked railway tracks at New Delhi’s Shivaji Bridge railway station.
Chandigarh Police also used water cannons to disperse Congress workers and leaders as they protested over the questioning.
Last month the ED questioned Rahul Gandhi for five days in the case.