Jairam Ramesh alleges Delhi police are 'preventing media from entering Congress headquarters'

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh alleged this morning that the Delhi police are "preventing the media from entering the Congress party headquarters".

Ramesh claimed the police was "obviously taking orders from the union home minister" and that this "high-handedness...reflects the mindset of the Modi Sarkar".

Today is a crucial day for the Congress: party president Sonia Gandhi is scheduled to appear before the Enforcement Directorate today, so party leaders are congregating at their Delhi headquarters to organise protests.

Last month, both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were summoned by the ED in a money laundering case linked to National Herald. Sonia could not appear in June because she had been recovering from Covid.

The party has described these summons as a "political vendetta". During a press conference this morning, Congress leader and Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot accused the BJP government of "misusing central agencies", saying this was a sign that "democracy is in danger".

As the protests unfurled in Delhi, a clutch of Congress leaders, including Shashi Tharoor, Ajay Maken and P Chidambaram, were reportedly detained. Tharoor claimed three police buses full of MPs and party colleagues were being taken to "god knows where".

Maken struck a more cheery note.

But at the heart of this controversy is an old newspaper called National Herald. What is the case and how are the Gandhis linked to it? Newslaundry's video explainer breaks it down.