Congress hits back at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for summoning the party’s Karnataka chief, DK Shivakumar, for questioning in connection with a money laundering case.
The party accused the central government of indulging in vendetta politics and called the summons an attempt to derail the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Earlier this year, the ED had filed a charge sheet against Shivakumar and others in connection with the case. The Congress MLA was arrested by the ED in the case on September 3, 2019. He was granted bail by the Delhi High Court on October 23, 2019.
In September 2018, the ED registered a money laundering case against Shivakumar, Anjaneya Hanumanthaiah, an employee at the Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi, and other people allegedly linked to the former Karnataka minister.
The ED had earlier questioned Shivakumar, his daughter and several others in connection with the case. The ED has also carried out searches at the premises linked to Shivakumar in Karnataka and Delhi after registering the case
Following the ED summons, Shivakumar took to Twitter and wrote, “In the midst of the Bharat Jodo Yatra and the assembly session, they have again issued me an ED summon to appear.”
“I am ready to cooperate, but the timing of this summon and the harassment I am put through, is coming in the way of discharging my constitutional and political duties,” the Congress leader said.
Even Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh questioned the timing of the ED summons and, in a dig at the Central government, said, “Operation Kichad (mud) in Goa yesterday. Today ED summons DK Shivakumar in Karnataka. MoSha (Prime minister Narendra Modi and Union Home minister Amit Shah) getting desperate to derail the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which has evoked huge public interest and generated so much enthusiasm. But we will not be cowed down. Vendetta politics only strengthens our resolve!”
The Congress started a 3,500 km Bharat Jodo Yatra on September 7 from Kanyakumari to Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir.
Rahul Gandhi is spearheading the Yatra. In the last eight days, the yatra has covered a distance of 150 km and is currently in Kerala. The Bharat Jodo Yatra is set to enter Karnataka on September 30.
Shivakumar has played crucial roles in taking out the grand old party from several crises. He was instrumental in keeping the Congress MLAs from Gujarat ahead of the 2017 Rajya Sabha polls.