Police at Rahul's house for details of sexual harrassment remark, he sends 10-point response

Delhi Police under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Sunday went to Rahul Gandhi's residence here for the third time in four days seeking details following his remarks during Bharat Jodo Yatra that women told him that they were sexually assaulted, to which the leader submitted a ten-point response. The Congress leader questioned the urgency and 45-day delay in action while wondering whether it is related to his position on the Adani affair.

Rahul submitted a preliminary response to the Delhi Police notice, hours after he told Special Commissioner (Law and Order) Sagarpreet Hooda, who met him at his Tughlak Lane residence, it would take 7-8 days to collate the information sought by investigators.

In his four-page, ten-point reply, sources said, the former Congress president has described the police move as "unprecedented" while asking whether it has anything to do with his stand on Adani Group inside and outside Parliament.

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Sources said Rahul also questioned the urgency on the part of police to visit his house more than once in the past few days, as they took 45 days to approach him as he had last made the remarks in Srinagar during the yatra finale on January 30. He also asked whether any other party, including the ruling BJP, has been subjected to any kind of scrutiny or questioning over their political campaigns.

Signalling the intensification of a bitter political battle between the ruling BJP and the Opposition, Congress rallied behind Rahul and called the exercise "worst case of political vengeance" and a "shameful act" that proves Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "nervous" about Rahul raising "uncomfortable" and "unanswerable" questions, including on the Adani affair.

BJP rejected the charges and said Rahul should provide the information sought by the police to enable justice for the victims with party spokesperson Sambit Patra saying the party is now crying that democracy is in danger over lawful action by police. BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malaviya tweeted, "assuming he didn’t lie then, it shows his feeble commitment towards ensuring justice."

Delhi police team led by Hooda had reached Rahul's residence at around 10 AM but could meet him only two hours later. After the meeting, Hooda told reporters that the remarks had to come to police's notice and as Rahul stayed in the capital and the yatra passed through the capital, they wanted to collect details about victims in the city.

"Several police personnel were deployed for the yatra. I personally was present. After his remarks about some sobbing women telling him about sexual assaults, domestic violence etc, we did our local investigation and could not find anything like that. So we wanted to ask the MP himself," he said.

Asked why it took so many days to act as Rahul made the remarks on January 30, he said Rahul had gone abroad and they approached him after he returned. Rahul left for London on February 28 and returned on March 15.

"After we get details, we want to ensure that legal action is taken in the matter at the earliest and there should be no loss of evidence and no victim should be further victimised or abused," he added.

However, the Congress was not impressed by the action with party president Mallikarjun Kharge tweeting, “the government has gone berserk in the effort to save Modi-ji's 'best friend'! After 45 days, sending Delhi Police to Rahul Gandhi's house for questioning regarding 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' is yet another cowardly act of the dictatorial government! Run the Parliament, Set up the JPC, Bring out the truth!”

Senior lawyer and MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi, claiming that the police had earlier on March 16 accepted Rahul's contention that it would take some time to collate details while Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot squarely put the onus on Home Minister Amit Shah saying police would not have taken this recourse without his prodding.

“In the past 75 years, has a notice been issued to any leader, including from the ruling party, after a political yatra. This smacks of the worst kind of pettiness," Singhvi, with Gehlot and Congress General Secretary (Jairam Ramesh) on his side, told a press conference.

"Without Shah's order, it is not possible that police could show such audacity. Rahul Gandhi said that he has received the notice and he will reply to it but still, the police went to his house. Don't forget what happened to the parties that sent police Indira Gandhi after the Emergency," Gehlot said.

He said the Modi government was setting a bad example by registering cases on statements of opposition leaders made during political campaigns. "If a Union Minister makes similar comments in Rajasthan, should we take the same action as done by the Delhi Police," he asked.