NEW DELHI: As Congress leader Rahul Gandhi appeared before the Enforcement Directorate for the second day on Tuesday, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel accused the BJP of indulging in "political vendetta" against the opposition and claimed that cases are "hushed up" when a person joins the ruling party.
Baghel, along with other party leaders, staged a dharna in front of the ED office, and was later detained by the Delhi Police, party leaders said.
Talking to the media, Baghel termed the ED's action "malicious" and accused the BJP government of indulging in "political vendetta" against the opposition. He cautioned that as the Centre continues to "perpetrate atrocities", the protests will continue.
"The BJP government at the Centre should tell whether any action has been taken against the leader of any pro-BJP party in the last eight years. The moment a leader joins the BJP, all the cases against that person get hushed up. The ED, CBI, IT department are used to suppress the voices of the Opposition," Baghel alleged.
Speaking about ED's summons to the Gandhi family, he said, "There is no money laundering in this entire case as not a single penny has been transacted. Only a business restructure was done and equity was floated to keep the historic newspaper alive."
Rahul Gandhi is being questioned by the ED in the National Herald money-laundering case, with the grand old party calling the agency action vendetta politics of the Centre against opposition leaders.
Several Congress leaders were detained for violating prohibitory orders outside the heavily barricaded party headquarters.
The Congress has said it will not be cowed down by intimidatory tactics of arrests or "false" cases against its top leaders.