A small room, 12 feet by 12 feet, with a table and a computer. Present there were three officers while a fourth stood outside. This was the setting of the marathon questioning of former Congress President Rahul Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate, as described by him.
In his first public utterances since he underwent a questioning by the ED in the National Herald case that stretched on for five days, Rahul, as he addressed party workers at the AICC headquarters today, gave out some details of how the interrogation took place.
"On the first day, I reached the ED office at 11 am. The day ended. I did not move from my chair while they (ED officers) kept getting up and going out. Amongst them, the one who was senior went out also to take instructions," he said.
"When it was 10:30 pm, they asked me – Rahul ji, tell us one thing. You have been sitting here for the past 11 hours. We are tired but you have not got tired. What is the secret behind this?" he said.
Rahul said he thought for a while and decided not to tell them the truth. He said he told them that his experience of having practised Vipassana had helped him sit in one place for eight to ten hours. He then claimed that the ED officers asked him to tell them more about Vipassana.
"You all know the truth, that Rahul Gandhi was not sitting alone in that room. Every worker and leader of the Congress was sitting with Rahul Gandhi in that room. You can tire out one person. But you cannot tire out the crores of workers of the Congress and its leaders," he said addressing a gathering of leaders and workers at the Congress office.
Striking a triumphant tone at the end of the ED questioning, projected by his party as an effort by the Modi government to intimidate the Congress leadership, he said, "In that room, everyone who is fighting fearlessly against this government was present…whoever is fighting to safeguard our democracy was sitting there with me, then how could I get tired?"
Rahul said that on the fifth day of questioning, the ED team asked him how he was so patient throughout, answering the questions and checking the replies. He said he decided to keep them guessing.
"You all know where this patience comes from. I should have told them I have been working in the Congress party since 2004. I have to know the value of patience. Every leader of the Congress party understands this. We have Sachin Pilot sitting here. I am here. Siddaramaiah ji, Randeep (Surjewala), we are all sitting here patiently," he said.
The Congress rallied around Rahul and the street protests carried out by the party workers and leaders over the last one week projected him as their undisputed leader. In keeping with this stance of the party, Rahul said the officers who interrogated him have realised that the leaders of the Congress party cannot be intimidated or suppressed.
"Falsehood can get tired. But truth never tires and there is no dearth of patience when you are on the side of truth," he said.
In his speech, Rahul took on the government over the Agnipath scheme. He said the Modi regime had fast changed its slogan from 'one rank, one pension' to 'no rank, no pension'.
"I had said that the government would have to take back the three farm laws. And it did. Now, the Congress party is saying that the government will have to withdraw the Agnipath scheme," he said.