Rahul Gandhi’s ‘witch hunt’ claim after Robert Vadra was charge-sheeted shows how Congress’s first family thinks it is beyond due legal process, betrays their sense of entitlement

Rahul Gandhi’s recent outburst defending his controversial brother-in-law, Robert Vadra, after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a fresh chargesheet against him in a money-laundering case reveals a deeper malaise in the Congress party than just political posturing. It reflects expectation of dynastic privilege over democracy, entitlement over accountability, and emotion over evidence.

By attempting to paint legal action as a “witch-hunt,” Gandhi has once again exposed the Congress’s decades-old habit of shielding its own from scrutiny, invoking martyrdom to mask malpractice.

Let’s be clear, the ED’s chargesheet is not an overnight political gimmick. It pertains to alleged irregularities in a land deal in Haryana’s Shikohpur, a matter under investigation for years. The case is part of a larger number of probes into Vadra’s questionable web of land deals, which have surfaced not just in Haryana but also in Rajasthan and Delhi-NCR states. Notably, the Congress was in power when these deals were signed. Despite this, Rahul Gandhi chose to lash out at investigative agencies and, by extension, the judiciary, calling it a political vendetta. What else can one call this but a textbook case of “whitewashing corruption”?

The BJP has rightly called out Rahul Gandhi’s remarks, with party spokesperson Tuhin Sinha noting that Mr. Gandhi’s defense implies either full awareness of Vadra’s “dark deeds” or even indirect complicity. It’s not an outlandish suggestion. After all, Vadra’s meteoric rise from a small-time businessman to a land magnate dovetailed suspiciously with the Congress’s control over state machinery in the UPA era. That Gandhi now pleads victimhood, crying “witch-hunt,” is just dishonest.

There is something sinister about the way Congress leaders invoke the term “witch-hunt” every time legal action comes close to the Nehru–Gandhi parivar. The phrase is meant to generate public sympathy, to shift the narrative from allegations to imagined persecution. But this is not Salem in the 1600s. This is India in 2025, a democratic nation with independent investigative agencies and judicial oversight. If Robert Vadra is innocent, he will be exonerated through due process. If guilty, he will face the consequences. That’s how the rule of law works. But Rahul Gandhi, it seems, wants to preempt the law with emotional blackmail.

And this is not an isolated incident. Rahul Gandhi’s disturbing remark in Assam, where he said Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma would be put in jail for corruption by the people of the state, betrays the same anti-democratic impulse. This wasn’t a veiled threat, it was an open declaration. Himanta Biswa Sarma, a former Congressman who joined BJP in 2015, has been a consistent target of Gandhi’s barbs, not because of corruption charges (there are none), but because his political defection was a blow to the Gandhi family’s prestige. That Rahul Gandhi would abuse his platform to suggest jailing a sitting, democratically elected chief minister, without any legal basis, is a reflection of the same Emergency-era mentality that the BJP accuses the Congress of perpetuating.

In fact, the ghost of the Emergency imposed by Rahul’s grandmother, Indira Gandhi looms large over today’s Congress. From censoring press freedom to weaponizing state machinery for political ends, the Indira Gandhi era created the template of authoritarianism that Congress has never truly renounced. Rahul Gandhi’s attack on institutions, his contempt for investigative agencies, and his willingness to invoke threats of arrest for political opponents show that the apple has not fallen far from the tree.

The defense of Robert Vadra is not just about a brother-in-law; it’s about a political culture that refuses to evolve. For decades, the Congress has operated like a family business, with its legal and moral compass conveniently adjusted to protect its own. From Bofors to National Herald, from 2G to CWG, the Congress track record on corruption is abysmal. And yet, when the agencies dare to investigate, the script remains unchanged: scream vendetta, play victim, and stall legal proceedings.

What makes this worse is that Rahul Gandhi has spent the last few years trying to reinvent himself as the face of accountability and anti-corruption. From tearing up ordinances to walking in padyatras, he has tried to project moral uprightness. But when it comes to his own family, the mask slips. When the law knocks on Vadra’s door, Rahul Gandhi doesn’t welcome it he derides it. This duplicity does not go unnoticed by the Indian voter.

The BJP, for its part, has taken a measured yet firm stance. Tuhin Sinha’s statement that Congress “still believes in the Emergency mindset” is not rhetorical flourish, it is rooted in reality. The Congress has consistently sought to undermine investigative agencies, whether it is the ED, CBI, or even the judiciary when verdicts do not favor them. In contrast, the Modi government has allowed these bodies functional autonomy, even at the cost of political discomfort, as seen in investigations involving BJP figures as well.

What Rahul Gandhi must understand is that public life comes with public scrutiny. You cannot expect special treatment for your relatives. You cannot wrap yourself in the flag of democracy while tearing down its institutions. And you certainly cannot talk of “saving the Constitution” while displaying contempt for legal due process.

By defending Robert Vadra and attacking investigative agencies, Rahul Gandhi has made a strategic and moral blunder. He has reinforced the worst public perceptions about dynastic politics: that the rules don’t apply to the elite, that family loyalty trumps constitutional morality, and that entitlement is a substitute for evidence.

If the Congress party wishes to remain politically relevant, it must stop acting like a family-owned enterprise and start respecting institutional integrity. Until then, the BJP’s charge that Rahul Gandhi is whitewashing corruption will not only resonate but also find increasing validation.

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