Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel staged a sit-in protest along with other leaders

NEW DELHI: As Congress MP Rahul Gandhi appeared before the Enforcement Directorate for the second consecutive day in a money laundering case on Tuesday, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, along with other party leaders staged a dharna in front of the ED office where he was taken into police custody.

While sitting at the Dharna, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel lambasted the BJP government for misusing investigative agencies and suppressing the voice of the opposition.

Congress leaders and workers took out a march to the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) office in solidarity with the Congress leader.

While talking to the media, Baghel has termed the ED's action as political bias and malicious. It is a "political vendetta" and the case has no grounds for investigation, CM said.

Castigating the BJP government, he said as long as the Center continues to perpetrate the atrocities, the protest will continue.

"BJP government at the centre should tell whether any action has been taken against the leader of any pro-BJP party in the last eight years. The moment a leader joins BJP, all the cases and matter against him gets hushed up. ED, CBI, IT department are used to suppress the voice of the opposition", CM Baghel asserted.

Speaking about ED's summon to the Gandhi family, he said that the National Herald was part of the freedom movement and was started by Jawahar Lal Nehru. "There is no money laundering in this entire case as not a single penny has been transacted. Only a business restructure was done and equity was floated to keep the historic newspaper alive. Congress party had given a loan of 90 crores to rescue the National Herald, which was a great loss. It is not a criminal act under any law in India if a political party has given a loan to save an orgnisation", CM said.