Youth Congress halts train in Patna over ED chargesheet against Gandhis; BJP, Congress trade barbs

NEW DELHI: A group of Indian Youth Congress workers blocked a railway track in Patna on Friday, disrupting train services in protest against the Enforcement Directorate (ED)'s chargesheet against top Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case.

Chanting “ED-shahi nahi chalegi!” and waving party flags, protesters climbed onto a stationary train before being escorted away by police. The brief disruption marked an escalation in Congress’s public backlash against what it calls politically motivated targeting by the Modi government.

The protest follows the ED’s filing of a prosecution complaint (chargesheet) on April 15 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, along with Congress leaders Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey, and others. The case is scheduled for hearing on cognisance in Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court on April 25.

The BJP quickly seized on the development, with former Union minister and MP Anurag Thakur accusing the Congress of being a “repeat offender.”

"Congress trembles at the name of National Herald," Thakur said in a press conference. "Time and again they try to relaunch the paper and fail. This is not the first time they've been caught stealing. Since Independence, many scams linked to Congress have come forward."

Thakur also took a dig at the publication’s format, saying, “Some newspapers are printed, others are only online. National Herald was barely either.”

In response, Rajasthan chief minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot defended the party, calling the charges “baseless.” He said the ED had already investigated the matter once before and found no wrongdoing by either Sonia or Rahul Gandhi.

“The National Herald was born to support the freedom movement. The company formed to manage it was a non-profit. How can there be money laundering if there’s no profit motive?” Gehlot asked.