Congress leader accuses BJP, ED of harassing Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case

Senior Congress leader Gurdeep Singh Sappal on Saturday demanded that the BJP government and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) stop “harassing Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi” in what he described as the bogus National Herald case.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Sappal accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of pursuing a politically motivated campaign to wipe out the Congress and recalled that the National Herald newspaper, founded by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1938, had played a significant role in India’s freedom struggle.

He alleged that filing a charge sheet without even registering an FIR, based solely on a petition filed by Subramanian Swamy, was both unethical and unlawful. The Supreme Court, he pointed out, had earlier dismissed the matter for lack of evidence. Reviving the case in 2023 through another court, he said, reflected the BJP’s biased and vindictive approach.

Turning to social welfare, Mr. Sappal accused the Modi government of systematically dismantling the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) by changing its name and altering its structure.

“The new bill amounts to the murder of a rights-based law rooted in Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy and guaranteed under Article 21,” he said. Over the years, he alleged, the Centre had weakened the scheme by cutting budgets and converting a justiciable right into a discretionary programme.

Mr. Sappal said the shift from 100% Central funding to a 60:40 Centre–State model would place an unfair financial burden on the States. The proposed law, he said, undermines decentralisation, enables forced shutdowns, and restricts workers’ livelihoods.

“Most alarmingly, a demand-driven scheme is being turned into a supply-driven one,” he added, asserting that the Congress will oppose the anti-people, anti-worker and anti-federal move at every forum — from Sadak to Sansad.

District Congress president Venkata Varma Raju, East Constituency in-charge Priyanka Dandi, Sports Cell chairman Kamalakar, State Youth Congress president Rama Rao, and Mahila Congress president Gayatri were among those present.