Lucknow, June 12 (Agency) Senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Sunday termed the notices sent by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to party president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case as a conspiracy to humiliate the top party leadership aimed and as part of a political vendetta. Pilot further said that on Monday, both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi will reach the ED’s office along with other party leaders and will perform Satyagraha padyatra along the way. The former Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan said this in a press conference at the State Congress office here. He said that the National Herald Newspaper and the Congress are same as they both were the voice of the freedom movement. The National Herald Newspaper was started to contribute to India’s freedom struggle with the aim of uprooting the British rule. It was published by Associated General Limited Company. Pilot, while explaining the background of this entire episode, said that this newspaper was started in 1937 under the guidance of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Acharya Narendra Dev, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai and many other patriots.
The British felt so threatened by this newspaper that they closed it from 1942 to 1945 during the “Quit India” movement which was led by the Congress. Pilot claimed that today the very same ideology that supported the British rule are hatching a conspiracy to suppress ‘this voice of the freedom movement’. He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi as leading this conspiracy and termed the ED as a mere weapon in his hands to be used against political opponents. Pilot further said that there is a feeling of anger among the Congressmen and women all over the country against this fake and conspiratorial case. He further said that on Monday morning all Congress MPs, MLAs, former MPs and former MLAs of the party, members of Congress executive and office bearers of the state executive along with Congress chief Sonia and Rahul Gandhi will go on a padyatra till the ED office under the Satyagraha program, adding that along with this, Satyagraha will be organised on Monday at all the state headquarters across the country including in Uttar Pradesh. Pilot accused the Modi government, of deliberately diverting the people’s attention by misleading them from the main issues facing the country as they have been blinded by the spirit of revenge.
The mentality which supported the British, today that very mentality which is a ‘symbol of slavery’ is carrying out vengeance against the sacrifices made for the freedom of India. He accused Prime Minister Modi of carrying out a cowardly conspiracy against the Congress leadership in the National Herald case, by asking the ED to send a notice to the party leaders. Pilot questioned that when the National Herald was going through a financial crisis, the Congress party had given a loan of Rs 90 crore over a period of 10 years from 2002 to 2011 to it in order to help it. The National Herald used that money to pay the salaries of its employees and other pay off the debts of the publication. So did the Congress commit a crime by doing so? Giving a loan to someone in need can never be a crime. He insisted that the Congress party did not commit a crime by helping the Associated General Limited Company which has been propagating the party’s ideology since 1937. The Congress party has also submitted its audit report regarding the election, which was not considered a crime by the Election Commission.