Congress stages nationwide protests against ED, Assam sees major rally led by APCC chief

The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) on Wednesday, April 16 launched a large-scale protest rally in Guwahati, voicing strong opposition to what it described as the "politically motivated" chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case.

The demonstration, led by APCC president Bhupen Borah, was part of a wider, coordinated national campaign by the Indian National Congress, with similar protests erupting across several states.

In a statement, K.C. Venugopal, General Secretary (Organisation) of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), announced that all Pradesh Congress Committees (PCCs) were mobilised for state-level demonstrations. Senior leaders, MPs, MLAs, office-bearers of Congress frontal organisations, and grassroots workers participated in what the party called a “powerful expression of democratic resistance.”

Protests were not limited to Assam. In New Delhi, tensions escalated as several Congress leaders were briefly detained by Delhi Police while attempting to march toward party headquarters, reportedly breaching police barricades.

Venugopal accused the ruling regime of weaponising central agencies to pursue political vendetta. "The ruling regime has crossed all limits in its pursuit of vendetta politics, using investigative agencies to intimidate and harass the Congress leadership," he stated.

The Congress also condemned the ED’s move to seize the assets of National Herald, a newspaper founded by India’s first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1938. The party said the move disregards the publication's historical legacy and contribution to the freedom movement.

Describing the government’s actions as a “state-sponsored crime masquerading as the rule of law,” the Congress pledged to continue its fight to uphold democratic principles and constitutional values. “We have fought to uphold the soul of India before, and we are prepared to do so again,” the party declared.