It’s vendetta politics: Congress

Dubbing the National Herald case against party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi “vendetta politics”, the Congress on Monday claimed such “doctored cases” will not deter its “resolve” to oppose the anti-people policies” of the Narendra Modi government. The ruling BJP welcomed the Delhi high court order asking Mrs Gandhi and her son to appear before a lower court in the case, saying they cannot “hide” from law which was “taking its own course”.

“No attempts to malign the Congress leadership through such doctored cases will deter our resolve to continue to oppose the anti-people policies of the Modi government,” said the party’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala. He dismissed suggestions that the HC’s decision was a “setback” to the party and said these were attempts by “incredulous agents of BJP”.

“We are quite sure that truth will even finally prevail in this case,” he said, alleging that BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had filed a “completely mischievous and false” private complaint as part of the “BJP’s vendetta politics”.

“We will not be deterred, we will not be cowed down, we will not back down in front of any provocation by false cases, by political vendetta and by low-level insinuation that the BJP and its incredulous agents continue to do,” he said.

Declaring that the Congress has full faith in the judicial process, he said “based on the legal advice, we shall move an appropriate forum” against the judgment of the Delhi high court.

The AICC has already declared that the high court order dismissing pleas against summons issued to Mrs Gandhi and Mr Gandhi will be challenged in the Supreme Court on Tuesday. It claimed “several legal deficiencies” in the verdict.

Party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi, who is representing Mr Gandhi, said the decision had come as a surprise as there was no prior intimation.