NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday refuted the reports that its party chief Sonia Gandhi requested the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to end her question as “baseless and lie”. Congress said that she was ready to answer all questions till night and was also ready to join the probe on Friday.
In a video statement, Congress general secretary and Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh said, “Today Congress chief appeared before the ED as per the law. She stayed there for over two and half hours.”
“When ED said that they don’t have anything else to ask and she can go, Sonia Gandhi said no. She said that whatever questions they have to ask, they can continue. She also said that she can sit there till 8 or 9 pm. She further said that she can even join the probe tomorrow,” Ramesh said.
The veteran Congress leader further added, “Sonia Gandhi also requested ED to let her know beforehand if they needed her for questioning. She requested as she is still recovering from COVID.”
“While the ED said that they don’t require her today or tomorrow, the Congress chief told them that she is ready to join the probe on Monday if needed,” the Congress media-incharge said.
Citing the reports of Sonia Gandhi requesting to conclude questioning as baseless, Ramesh said, “I refute this news in clear words that Congress chief had requested to end the questioning citing COVID recovery.”
“Today’s questioning ended because ED didn’t have any questions to ask,” he added.
Meanwhile, Congress sources said that Sonia Gandhi, who tested positive for Covid on June 1 this year and was admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital between June 12 to 18, had to take a nebulizer twice during her questioning to stabilize her breathing.
Sonia Gandhi had also undergone treatment for lung infection when she had tested positive for Covid.
The ED questioned Sonia Gandhi, who is also an MP from Rae Bareli for over two and half hours in connection with an alleged money laundering case involving National Herald.
Meanwhile, several Congress leaders and MPs were also detained during the day when they tried to hold Satyagrah outside party headquarters in New Delhi. The detained leaders were taken to Kingsway camp in the Civil Lines area.