Will not be intimidated, this is political vendetta: Congress on Shivakumar's arrest

New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday slammed the BJP-led government over D K Shivakumar's arrest, asserting that it will not be intimidated by the "politics of persecution" and continue to ask the "hard questions" from the dispensation.

The party also said the 96 days of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government's second term are characterised by three words -- "tyranny, chaos and anarchy". The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday arrested Congress's troubleshooter from Karnataka, Shivakumar, here in connection with a money laundering case following repeated questioning over the past few days.

Hitting out at the government over the arrest of Shivakumar, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said it was the latest in a series of continued "political vendetta". "D K Shivakumar's only crime was that he provided protection to those Congress MLAs in Gujarat who were being poached by the NDA-BJP during the Rajya Sabha elections," Tewari said at a press conference.

"The Indian National Congress is not going to be cowed down. The Indian National Congress is not going to be intimidated. As the premier political party of the country, we will continue to ask the hard questions," he said. The Congress will continue to demand answers, agitate and keep democracy alive in this country, he said. "We will not allow democracy to be stifled by the intimidations being perpetrated by the NDA-BJP government," Tewari said.