Congress leaders and party workers on Wednesday, April 16, spearheaded protests across India opposing the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) chargesheet against senior party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case.
The party strongly condemned the BJP-led Union government, accusing it of misusing investigative agencies to harass the Opposition and suppress dissenting voices.
The protests began outside the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters at Akbar Road in New Delhi and soon extended to ED offices and Congress offices in multiple states.
The ED had submitted a chargesheet on April 9 at the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi, naming Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and other party members including Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey. The court, presided over by Special Judge Vishal Gogne, reviewed the chargesheet on April 15 and set the next hearing for April 25.
On the same day, Congress announced a nationwide protest call to challenge what it described as a politically motivated attack by the Centre.
The incident has reignited intense debate on the independence of enforcement agencies and led to fierce exchanges between supporters of Congress and the BJP across online platforms.
While Congress leaders alleged that the ED’s move was driven by the government’s desire to intimidate its opponents, the BJP maintained that the legal process must take its course and that no individual should be above the law.
Congress national spokesperson Jairam Ramesh slammed the Modi government, calling the ED action an assault on democratic values. “Seizing the assets of the National Herald is a state-sponsored crime masquerading as the rule of law. Filing chargesheets against Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and some others is nothing but the politics of vendetta and intimidation by the PM and the HM gone completely berserk. The INC and its leadership will not be silenced. Satyameva Jayate,” Ramesh posted on X.
Countering the Congress protests, BJP spokesperson CR Kesavan said the demonstrations only added to the suspicion surrounding Congress’s role in the case. “Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, who are out on bail in the National Herald case, may be above the rules and constitution of the dynastic Congress party but they are not above Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution where everybody is equal before the law of the land,” Kesavan told PTI.
“Protest against the chargesheet by the Congress party today in an effort to intimidate the agencies only raises more serious suspicions about the integrity of the Congress leadership in the National Herald case.”
Congress MP KC Venugopal accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of orchestrating a political witch-hunt against the Congress leaders to silence the Opposition.
“The Modi-Shah regime’s vendetta against the Opposition knows no bounds. The witch-hunt against Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji and LOP Sh. Rahul Gandhi ji, using the frivolous, politically motivated & fabricated National Herald case, is a clear example of their attempt at intimidation and silencing of Opposition voices,” he posted on X.
Meanwhile, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad defended the ED’s move, asserting that the Congress had no legal right to divert government-owned properties to the National Herald.
“Congress party has the right to protest, but it does not have the right to misappropriate government properties and give it to the National Herald… A corporate conspiracy was hatched in a very interesting way to get this entire property into the hands of the family…” he said at a press meet.
“And what are these properties—one property on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg in Delhi, properties in Mumbai, Lucknow, Bhopal, and Patna. Young India Limited was supposed to be a charitable organisation, but till now, it is not known what charity it did… Writing off ₹90 crores for ₹50 lakhs and acquiring property worth thousands of crores…” he added.
 chargesheet against senior party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case.){kind=link}