The Congress has asked all its party leaders, including MPs, former Ministers, Chief Ministers of States ruled by it, General Secretaries to be present with their supporters on Saturday when party chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will appear before a trial court here in the controversial National Herald case.
Sources in the Congress said they have been asked to bring supporters too and in case the Gandhis do not apply for a bail, which will leave no option for the Magistrate but to send them to jail, the party may give a clarion call for a “Jail Bharo Andolan”. The Gandhis could be released only after they apply for bail. In the defamation case in Arvind Kejriwal versus Nitin Gadkari, the AAP chief had refused to apply for bail preferring imprisonment.
The hearing is to take place at Vigyan Bhawan, as both the accused in this case are SPG protectees, where elaborate arrangements have been made. Sources said Sonia and Rahul may not apply for a bail.
A large number of supporters are likely to come from neighbouring States of Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttarakhand, parts of Uttar Pradesh, besides activists of Indian Youth Congress. “In case the Gandhis do not move for a bail then a situation could be precarious — both for the Government and for the party. As per the strategy, a ‘Jail Bharo Andolan’ would be called which we presume could be security problem,” said a senior party leader.
Ever since a trial court summoned for the personal appearance of Gandhis, the Congress has been vehemently protesting in Parliament and stalling the procedures in both the Houses, particularly in the Rajya Sabha where the party is in majority. Several crucial Bills, including GST could not be passed due to the unrelenting protests by the Congress in the garb of different issues like corruption charges against Chief Ministers of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Sonia has already charged up her party workers by her statement, “I am the daughter-in-law of Indira Gandhi and not of afraid of anyone. I am not disturbed”. Both Sonia and Rahul has termed the National Herald case a “political vendetta” and simultaneously remarked they have full faith in judiciary. Some Congress leaders fear the case would “weaken and slow down” the party at a time when it is witnessing a revival of sorts.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy — whose complaint has led to summoning of the Gandhis — on Wednesday demanded a Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) probe into allegations of shareholders of Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) that they were not consulted before the transfer of the entire equity into Young Indian Pvt Ltd. In a letter to the Corporate Affairs Secretary, he alleged that AJL shareholders are “complaining that the transfer of freshly-issued shares, which constituted more than 99 per cent of the total shares, were carried out without their knowledge or information.”
This is not the first time a top Congress leader has been asked to appear before a court. The party faced similar situation when Indira Gandhi had to appear but was later represented by her lawyer Nani Palkhiwala in the famous Raj Narain case. Narain had contested the Lok Sabha polls against Indira Gandhi in 1971 from Rae Bareilly in which Indira won. Narain alleged that Indira Gandhi used bribery, Government machinery and resources to gain an unfair advantage in contesting the election.