Monday, 13 June, saw Rahul Gandhi reaching the Enforcement Directorate office for questioning after the agency summoned him over money laundering charges in the National Herald case. In a reaction to this development, the Congress party workers staged protests in Delhi and other cities as part of ‘Satyagraha’ against the inquiry.
Meanwhile, Delhi police detained several other Congress leaders for trying to foment trouble before Rahul Gandhi’s appearance in the ED office. Along with other workers, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, senior leader Harish Rawat, Congress leaders Rajni Patil, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, L. Hanumanthaiah, and Thirunavukkarasar Su. were detained by the police.
At a time when senior Congress leaders were holding agitations and demonstrations in support of Rahul Gandhi, one Congress MP was conspicuously absent. Shashi Tharoor was in the United Kingdom, to preside over the London event of the Jaipur Literature Festival. While other Congress leaders were being detained by police, Tharoor was sharing a picture with Geetanjali Shree, author of the recent Booker Prize winner ‘The Tomb of Sand’ (English translation of the Hindi original Ret Samadhi by Shree). Sharing the image, Tharoor tweeted, “Toasting birthday girl novelist Geetanjali Shree with a strawberry in London last night as @JLFLitfest comes to a celebratory end!”
After the tweet from Tharoor, Congress supporters were miffed with Tharoor regarding the timing of his tweet. Many Congressis on Twitter questioned Tharoor’s loyalty towards the party while his fellow Congress leaders were staging protests and getting detained in support of Rahul Gandhi.
After Congress loyalists questioned Tharoor over the timing of his tweet, other Twitter users also decided to pull his leg with memes and jokes.
Meanwhile, earlier today, before Congress leader Rahul Gandhi appeared for questioning at the Enforcement Directorate office, the Congress leaders created a ruckus in the capital and protested against the normal functioning of the agency.