Congress leaders join dharna against ED’s charges against Sonia, Rahul
Hyderabad: Protesting against a chargesheet filed against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case, Congress leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and ministers, held a dharna in front of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in Basheerbagh on Thursday.
Speaking at the rally, Bhatti accused the BJP-led Centre of deliberately targeting Congress leaders to suppress the voice of the opposition and derail party leader Rahul Gandhi’s attempts to conduct a caste census across the country.
“Rahul Gandhi’s call to implement caste census across the country has rattled the Modi government. They fear equitable distribution of resources and wealth,” he stated. He said that Telangana already conducted a caste survey, revealing 56 per cent of the population as belonging to backward classes and said the Congress intends to expand this model nationally.
IT minister D. Sridhar Babu condemned the revival of the decade-old National Herald case, calling it an act of political vengeance aimed at diverting public attention from real issues like inflation, unemployment, and economic decline. “Despite BJP’s attempts to intimidate us, the Congress will not back down,” he said.
Health minister Damodar Rajanarsimha said the BJP was attempting to silence Rahul Gandhi because it cannot counter him politically. “The chargesheet is a tactic orchestrated under the direction of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah,” he alleged.
BC welfare minister Ponnam Prabhakar said the BJP was threatened by the growing popularity of the Congress under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge. “Instead of respecting democratic institutions, the BJP is using them as tools of harassment,” he added.
AICC Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan said the ED chargesheets were part of a broader strategy to stifle dissent and social justice. “This is not just about one family, it is about every Indian who believes in democracy and equality,” she said.
The Congress leaders vowed to continue their fight for justice, vowing to transform central agencies being misused for political vendetta into pillars of democracy when the party returned to power at the Centre.
