Congress workers burn effigy of Subramanian Swamy

The laws applies to everyone.

“Today, I appeared with a clear coronary heart in the courtroom like another regulation-abiding individual”. We did what any law-abiding citizen should do. The legal guidelines of the nation are relevant to all with none distinction and discrimination. Sonia Gandhi, the Congress party’s president, and her son, the party’s vice president, were granted bail of 50,000 rupees ($754), Kapil Sibal, a Congress lawmaker and lawyer, told reporters. But they could never change us from our paths.

Sonia and Rahul Gandhi had no option but to appear in court after the Delhi High Court, on December 7, rejected their plea for quashing summons observing that, “the gravity of the allegations levelled against petitioners has a fraudulent flavour involving a national political party and so, serious imputations smacking of criminality levelled against petitioners need to be properly looked into”.

Both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi appeared in the Patiala House courts here on Saturday in connection with a complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in the National Herald case. “They will not succeed”, she asserted. The party leaders and workers raised slogans against the Modi government and said they would continue the fight till it reaches a logical conclusion.

Peer Mohamed, a Chennai-based political analyst, said the case was far from an open-and-shut affair and it would be hard to prove criminal activity or intent.

“The Congress party is united in support of (Sonia and Rahul)”.

The protest was joined by the Congress Councilors of LAHDC Kargil. “If you are winning, then go smiling to court”, Swamy said.

A trial court had on June 26 a year ago issued summons to the Congress leaders on Mr Swamy’s compliant about “cheating” in the acquisition of AJL by Young India Ltd, a firm in which the two Gandhis had each a 38 per cent share. He is not a member of the Parliament nor from a border state.

“It’s a political vendetta led by, I am saying with a sense of responsibility, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and [the plaintiff] Swamy is only a small cog in this entire wheel of conspiracy”, Surjewala said.

Congress and “corruption are made for each other” and when BJP calls for “Congress-mukt” India what it means is corruption-free India, he said.

The court strategy was being thrashed out at Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad’s residence where the Congress high command and senior arrived for one final meeting.

Rahul’s grandmother, Indira Gandhi, was prime minister when she was gunned down in 1984 by her Sikh bodyguards. “We have complete faith in the judicial system”, he said.

They are doing so only to divert people’s attention from the Herald case, the Union Minister said.

Anand Sharma charged the government with abusing official agencies and instruments to unleash “politics of vendetta against principal opposition party”.

The BJP, therefore, worked hard to keep the focus on corruption and the National Herald case and maintain some modicum of distance between the government and the case.