Govt's bid to divert attention from 'economic emergency': Cong on Shivakumar's arrest

The Congress hit out at the BJP-led government over D K Shivakumar's arrest on Tuesday, alleging that punitive actions in a "revengeful manner" were being taken against its leaders to divert people's attention from the "economic emergency" prevailing in the country.

Terming the action as "political vendetta", the party said it will fight against the arrest of Shivakumar, a prominent Karnataka Congress leader, legally as well as "in the people's court".

Immediately after his arrest, a tweet from Shivakumar's Twitter handle said: "I congratulate my BJP friends for finally being successful in their mission of arresting me. The IT and ED cases against me are politically-motivated and I am a victim of BJP's politics of vengeance and vendetta."
"The GDP growth rate is now below five per cent. Actually, it is about three per cent. There is an economic emergency prevailing in the country. To put a lid over all this and to draw the attention of the country away from their own misdeeds, the BJP government is taking false actions against Congress leaders."