Congress protest march in Delhi to protect Rs 2,000 cr of Gandhi family: Smriti Irani

New Delhi: The ruling BJP dispensation on Monday slammed the protest march by the Congress against the ED summons to its leader Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald money laundering case. Addressing a press conference, BJP leader and Union Minister Smriti Irani said the show of strength by the Congress is aimed at putting pressure on the probe agency, and asserted that nobody is above the law "not even Rahul Gandhi".

Congress leaders have taken to the streets to pressurize an investigating agency openly because their corruption has been exposed...It's an attempt to protect the assets of the Gandhi family: Union Min & BJP MP Smriti Irani on ED probe against Rahul Gandhi in National Herald case pic.twitter.com/mRvCK8AQoa — ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2022

Irani said that the members of the opposition party have hit the streets in support of corruption and allegedly protect over Rs 2,000 crore assets of the Gandhi family.

Congress members should also ask Rahul Gandhi about his family's relations with Dotex Merchandise, which she described as a hawala operator whose transactions have been flagged by the Financial Intelligence Unit.

Why is Gandhi family interested in a former newspaper publishing company which is now running real estate business...This shows that not just 'Jijaji' (Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law Robert Vadra) but entire Gandhi family is fascinated by real estate: Union Minister Smriti Irani pic.twitter.com/zsyOh9X7Z2 — ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2022

The BJP leader alleged that the Gandhi family floated Young Indian to grab the assets worth over Rs 2,000 crore of Associated Journals Limited, which publishes the National Herald newspaper.

Never before such a blatant attempt was made by a political family to hold a probe agency to ransom, she said. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Monday appeared before the ED here for questioning in the National Herald money-laundering investigation.

There was heavy police deployment in and around the ED office located at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road. As he left the party headquarters at 24 Akbar Road, several Congress workers accompanied him. The police, however, did not allow them to move further and only Rahul Gandhi was permitted.

The Congress leader was also accompanied by her sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Earlier in the morning, hundreds of Congress workers reached the Congress headquarters to join Rahul Gandhi in their proposed march to the ED office.

Carrying placards, the party workers raised slogans against the Central government. As a precautionary measure, the police detained several party workers. The traffic police also issued an advisory for the people asking them to avoid certain stretches from where the rally was supposed to pass.