Ahead of Sonia's questioning by ED, Congress says police not allowing media to enter AICC headquarters

Ahead of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's questioning by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the party alleged on Thursday that the Delhi Police is preventing the media from entering the AICC headquarters in New Delhi and said this "high-handedness" reflects the mindset of the Narendra Modi government.

The opposition party is set to stage protests across the country against the questioning of its chief and has slammed the agency's action against its top leadership as "political vendetta".

"From the early hours of this morning the Delhi Police -- obviously taking orders from the Union Home Minister -- is preventing the media from entering the Congress party headquarters," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet.

"This high-handedness was only to be expected and reflects the mindset of the Modi Sarkar," he added.

The Congress president is set to appear before the ED on Thursday for questioning in a money-laundering probe related to the National Herald-Associated Journals Limited case and top party leaders will converge at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters for the protests.

Ramesh had said on Wednesday that the Congress will stage demonstrations across the country in "a most telling manner" against what he described as political vendetta.

When Rahul Gandhi was questioned by the ED, the police had made elaborate arrangements. A large number of Congress leaders were detained, taken to far-away locations and released only at midnight.

Congress MPs had raised strong objections and complained to the president, vice president and Lok Sabha speaker against the police's "high-handedness".