Congress MPs to meet today as ED seals Young Indian office; to raise issue in Parliament

All the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha MPs of Congress will meet on Thursday, July 04 at 09:45 AM at the Congress Parliamentary Party office to discuss the party's future strategy after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) temporarily sealed the Young Indian (YI) office within the Congress-owned National Herald building in Delhi on August 03. In retaliation to this, the Congress MPs will also be giving an adjournment motion notice in Parliament regarding the sealing of the Young Indian property. 

Notably, the Young Indian Office at Herald House in New Delhi was shut down by the ED on August 03, with instructions that no one may enter the building without the agency's prior approval. According to prior reports from sources, the ED found incriminating documents during its raids related to the National Herald scam.

Congress accuses BJP of 'threat politics'

Following the temporarily shut down of the Young Indian premises by ED, Congress on Wednesday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government and accused the saffron party of practising "threat politics".

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, "We are seeing an open-ended investigation for events 10 years ago with siege mentality in the heart of the capital of the world's largest democracy. Can we believe it? I was astonished to believe that people cannot come and go. There are platoons everywhere on the other side of the road also apart from Tughlaq lane. The only sole objective of this exercise is humiliation, insult and intimidation at one level."

Targeting BJP, he called the action a result of a frustrated political regime and accused the saffron party of doing "threat politics".

"You can try and suppress as much as you like you will receive resilence and a reaction which is completely democratic. We cannot find stronger words to condemn it," the Congress leader said,

ED seals Young Indian premises

"It is hereby ordered that this premises not be opened without prior permission from the Directorate of Enforcement, B-Block, Pravartan Bhawan, APJ Abdul Kalam Road, New Delhi-11," read a notice stuck on the premises of the Herald House, the registered office address of Associate Journals Limited (AJL), the National Herald newspaper’s publisher, which is under probe over its acquisition by Young Indian, a firm linked to the Gandhi family.

It is pertinent to mention that earlier Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were questioned by the central agency in connection to the National Herald scam. Sonia Gandhi was asked over 100 questions in July, during interrogations that spanned three days for 12 hours in total. Whereas on the other hand, Rahul Gandhi's interrogation took place in June for 5 five days and was asked around 150 questions. The questioning of the Gandhis was initiated after the ED late last year registered a fresh case under the criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. 

Notably, the case was registered after a trial court here took cognisance of an Income Tax department probe against Young Indian, based on a private criminal complaint by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013.