Mallikarjun Kharge says 'resilience in Congress blood' post ED questioning in Herald House

After hours of interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate in the Herald House in Delhi, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge uploaded a long tweet on Thursday. In the tweet in question, the Congress leader highlighted how he was summoned by the ED while he was in the Parliament questioning the Modi Government, who he called incompetent, and said 'I obliged'. 

"I was to host dinner for Vice President election candidate Smt Margaret Alva Ji. I was held back unreasonably by ED, but I obliged," the 80-year-old said, asking the 'dictatorial government to be rest-assured that he can do this 'another 100 times'. 

'Resilience is in Congress' blood'

"If they want to make the process a punishment, I will embrace it. Resilience is in Congress' blood just like cowardice is in BJP's,"  Kharge further wrote in the tweet. A day after the ED sealed the Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YI)’s office at Herald House in New Delhi, Kharge, who is the Principal Officer of the organisation, was summoned. It was said that in the presence of the Congress leader, the agency sleuths conducted a second round of raids, as in the first round, no authorised person of the organization was present. 

Kharge's summons triggers fresh BJP Vs Congress 

The summons to the leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha, became the latest flashpoint between the Congress and the BJP.  Pointing out that it is the middle of the Parliament session, Congress said it was an 'insult' to the legislature and a 'black' chapter in the history of democracy.

Union minister Piyush Goyal, who is the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, rejected the allegation as "baseless". He maintained that the government does not interfere in the functioning of law enforcement agencies, and asked the Congress leaders to face the law instead of running away.

The ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after a trial court in Delhi took cognizance of the Income Tax probe against Young Indian Pvt. Limited. In 2015, the investigation wing of the I-T department submitted a detailed Tax Evasion Petition against some persons including Rahul Gandhi, and Sonia Gandhi. The son-mother duo have been questioned for 54 hours and 6 hours respectively in relation to the case.