National Herald case: Congress to put up show of strength when Rahul appears before ED

New Delhi, Jun 08: The Congress is expected to hold a major show of strength in Delhi on June 13 when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will appear before the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case.

Reportedly, all party MPs, of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and senior leaders have been asked to reach the party headquarters on Akbar Road Monday morning.

The party plans to take out a march to the ED office on APJ Abdul Kalam Road in a show of support for Gandhi when he appears before the agency.

The Congress will hold a virtual meeting of general secretaries, in-charges of various states and state unit presidents on Thursday to finalise the protest plans.

Senior party leaders told PTI that the state units will also conduct various campaigns in protest against the ED summons in connection with a money laundering case pertaining to the National Herald-AJL deal.

The Congress has termed the charges ''fake and baseless'' and added the summonses to Rahul Gandhi and party president Sonia Gandhi was part of the BJP's ''vendetta politics''.

The party had put up a similar show of strength earlier when the Gandhis appeared in a court after they were summoned in a related case.

Rahul Gandhi had earlier been summoned to appear before the agency on June 2 but he sought a fresh date as he was abroad at the time.

The case pertains to the probe into the alleged financial irregularities in the party-promoted Young Indian that owns the National Herald newspaper. The paper is published by Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and owned by Young Indian Pvt Limited.

The probe agency wanted to record the statements of the Gandhis under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).