Jamshedpur: The East Singhbhum District Congress Committee organized a massive protest demonstration outside the BJP office in Jamshedpur on Thursday, describing the recent court decision dismissing the Enforcement Directorate proceedings in the National Herald case as a decisive victory for democracy and the Constitution.
The protest procession, led by District Congress President Parvinder Singh, began from Ambagan Maidan and culminated at the BJP office, with party workers raising slogans against what they termed the misuse of central investigative agencies for political vendetta.
Addressing the gathering, Parvinder Singh said that the court’s dismissal of the ED’s proceedings against former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had exposed the BJP’s alleged abuse of power. He added, “The decision proved that the allegations in the National Herald case were politically motivated, factually baseless, and aimed solely at intimidating the Congress leadership.”
Singh said the verdict reaffirmed the independence of the judiciary and demonstrated that constitutional institutions function according to the rule of law, not under political pressure. He alleged that agencies such as the ED, CBI, and Income Tax Department have been repeatedly misused by the BJP-led central government to target opposition leaders, and termed the National Herald case a clear example of this practice.
Congress leaders asserted that the court found no evidence of money laundering or criminal intent in the case and described the prolonged investigation as an attempt to divert public attention from pressing issues such as inflation, unemployment, economic slowdown, and social inequality.
The district Congress leadership also demanded accountability from the BJP government. “Who will take the responsibility for the mental harassment and political defamation caused by the long-running investigation?” a Congress leader asked. They called upon the BJP to issue a public apology and ensure that constitutional institutions are not used as political tools in the future.
A large number of Congress leaders and workers participated in the protest, including Zeba Khan, Anand Bihari Dubey, Paritosh Singh, Taslima Nasreen, Om Prakash Singh, Firoz Khan, Rajiv Mishra, Manoj Jha, Sanjay Tiwari, Rajneesh Singh, Atul Gupta, Aparna Guha, Awadhesh Kumar Singh, Kamlesh Kumar Pandey, Akhilesh Singh Yadav, Shafi Ahmed Khan, Sunita Ojha, Shilpi Chakraborty, Sultan Ahmed, Surendra Sharma and several others.
