DNA Exclusive: Is Congress' big protest on Friday an attempt to recover lost ground?

New Delhi: In what came as today’s biggest report, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will host a press conference on the infamous National Herald Scam case, in Congress’s big wigs like Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi himself were grilled by the Enforcement Directorate amid massive protests from the party workers. Things got heated up after the leader of the opposition Mallikarjun Kharge was summoned by ED for questioning midway through the session. This came after Congress, being the biggest opposition party, announced a march to Rashtrapati Bhawan and PM house to mark their protest against the growing inflation, price rise, and unemployment among other issues on August 5. Subsequently, ED sealed the National Herald building in New Delhi and heavily barricaded the residence of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who was also accused in the scam case.

In today’s DNA, Zee Media’s Rohit Ranjan made a  detailed analysis of what all issues will be addressed by Rahul Gandhi in his press conference on Friday morning and is it the protest against the economy that triggered Congress or ED’s action against Gandhis.

#DNA: कल सुबह प्रेस कॉन्फ्रेंस करेंगे राहुल गांधी, ED की पूछताछ के बाद मल्लिकार्जुन खड़गे ने कहा, 'No Comments'@irohitr @Ravi_ZeeNews @capt_ivane
Watch LIVE - https://t.co/asaJAvmeIt pic.twitter.com/IdA9PJT9Ir — Zee News (@ZeeNews) August 4, 2022

According to Zee New reporter Ravi Tripathi, all the Congress workers have started gathering in the Delhi party headquarters to gear up for the big demonstration tomorrow, which was announced by the party beforehand. The party workers and leadership will put up throughout the night as they fear police action in the morning and thus, want to be present on the ground.

Congress Parliamentarian will march from the parliament building to Rashtrapati Bhawan under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi while other senior leaders and workers will march towards the President’s House from Congress headquarters under the leadership of Party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi. However, it is still not clear if the opposition leaders will be allowed to conduct a full march due to security reasons.

Notably, the Delhi police have not officially permitted Congress to hold any protest and thus, there’s a possibility that the leaders might get detained by the force during the protest.

Congress protesting against price rise or National Herald investigation?

According to Zee Media's Jitendra Sharma, through the massive Congress protests, which the party claims are about the unjust ED investigation, Congress is trying to find the lost political ground. It is just an attempt by the age-old party to find some mileage and catalyse its popularity among the masses.

Congress calls out ED and govt for harassing Kharge

Meanwhile, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh continued to call out the Enforcement Directorate for breaking the protocol by summoning the LOP in the middle of a parliament session. As per Congress, the leader should have been given the call before or after the session was over.

Ramesh also pointed out that the probe agency kept questioning Kharge despite the fact that he hosted a dinner on Saturday for the opposition’s Vice Presidential Candidate Alva Margaret. He called it open harassment of the opposition leader at the hands of the government.

Watch today's full episode:

बॉर्डर पर ऑपरेशन 'D'...विस्फोटक खुलासा ! देखिए #DNA LIVE #RohitRanjan के साथ | @irohitr

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+धार्मिक शिक्षा की आड़ में देश विरोध?
+कश्मीर पर पाकिस्तान की नई 'टूल किट'

https://t.co/KrhrknBJk0 — Zee News (@ZeeNews) August 4, 2022