Probe agency had filed a charge sheet against DK Shivakumar in a money laundering case in May.
In a veiled attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar on Friday said that politics is done in the field, not in the office of the investigative agency after Enforcement Directorate summoned him.
Earlier on Friday, Mr Shivakumar reached ED concerning a probe related to his financial contribution to Young India Pvt Ltd.
The ED sent a summon to Mr Shivakumar on September 23, asking him and his brother DK Suresh to be present physically in the agency's Delhi office on October 7 for questioning. The brothers had requested the agency to postpone the date, citing the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
However, he had to "leave the Bharat Jodo yatra in the middle" to reach the ED office after it declined his request of extending the date of his appearance before the agency.
"Politics should be done in the field, not in the office of an investigative agency. Even though I am in Karnataka president of Congress, I am unable to participate in the Bharat Jodo yatra today. What was the need to make this inquiry today? I asked for time but wasn't allowed," Mr Shivakumar told the mediapersons in Bengaluru.
"I told them, money was given to organizations that our leaders started during the time of Jawaharlal Nehru and Gandhi," he added.
Mr Shivakumar after appearing before the ED on Friday said that he gave all the details that were asked of him.
The ED had filed a charge sheet against Mr Shivakumar and others in a money laundering case in May. The Enforcement Directorate registered the money laundering case based on a complaint filed by the Income Tax (IT) department.
The I-T department, during the initial probe, had allegedly found unaccounted and misreported wealth linked to the Congress leader.
Earlier, Mr Shivakumar had slammed the ED and termed the summons as political harassment, calling the charges "baseless" and "politically motivated".
Meanwhile, Congress has called the ED summons to Mr Shivakumar in the midst of the Bharat Jodo Yatra as an attempt to derail the march as BJP is anxious about the overwhelming response from people to the Yatra.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)