"ED must be abolished": Akhilesh Yadav amid row over National Herald case

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], April 16 (ANI): Amid ongoing ruckus over the ED filing a prosecution complaint against Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case, Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday asserted that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) must be "abolished" since departments including Income Tax already exist to tackle economic offences.
"In my understanding, a department like ED must be abolished. I will ask Congress to ask for the same thing. There are several institutions that look into economic offences. Having ED means that you are not even trusting your own organisations like the Income Tax department or GST," Yadav, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, said in a press conference.
He stated that many parties had opposed the establishment of ED during the Congress' tenure, telling them that it might cause them trouble in the future. He added that leaders who spoke against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra had to face investigative agencies.
"The Congress itself made this ED law. At that time, many parties opposed it, telling Congress that you were bringing such a law that could ultimately cause trouble to you. Any leader who was against the BJP in Maharashtra faced ED, CBI, and the income tax department," Yadav added.
Meanwhile, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday criticised the BJP-led government, accusing it of targeting the Congress party to cover up its failures. This follows the Enforcement Directorate's prosecution complaint against Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and others in the alleged National Herald money laundering case.
Kharge claimed that the BJP-led government's economic mismanagement was spiralling out of control and said there was no vision or solutions, only attempts to divert attention from its mistakes.
Taking to social media, X, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge wrote, "Your despotic Sarkar is hell-bent on targeting the Congress to whitewash its own sins. BJP's economic mismanagement is spiralling out of control. Desperation is gathering steam. No vision, no solution, only diversion!"
On Tuesday, the ED filed a prosecution complaint (chargesheet) in Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court against Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey and others, including several firms. The matter has been listed for arguments on cognisance in the Delhi Rouse Avenue Court on April 25. (ANI)