Our bank accounts frozen, BJP murdering democracy: Congress slams PM Modi

Alleging unfair practices by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, on Thursday, demanded level playing field in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Speaking at a press conference at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters, Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge complained that the ruling party has frozen its bank accounts, which is leading to a host of problems for the party in election campaigning.

Further, appealing to the constitutional bodies, Kharge demanded that Congress' bank accounts be restored. "Appeal to constitutional bodies that they should allow our party to access bank accounts if they want free, fair polls", the Congress chief said.

Targeting the Centre, Kharge said that BJP has accumulated massive amounts of funds through electoral bonds while trying to suppress the Opposition. "[The] Party in power amassed funds through electoral bonds while freezing our accounts to create hurdles for us in fighting polls," Kharge said.

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi alleged that money from Congress' bank accounts is being taken away forcibly.
A systematic effort is underway by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cripple the Congress financially, Sonia Gandhi alleged. Pointing to the unfair practices, Gandhi said that the freezing of accounts is a serious issue that affects Indian democracy as a whole.

In his press statement, Congress leader Ajay Maken asked that despite no political parties, including the BJP, paying the Income Tax, why were only the Congress party's 11 Bank Accounts frozen? He further informed that the party received fresh notices from the Income Tax Department for FY1994 and asked to calculate penalties after 31 years of the assessment.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, while talking about the crippling effect of the frozen bank accounts, expressed his disappointment at the state of constitutional institutions' silence on the matter.
"You have been robbed of the country's democratic infrastructure," Gandhi lamented.

He said that precious time has been lost in the last month, when Congress has been unable to pay its workers for campaigning. "We are unable to buy railway tickets for our workers and leaders, unable to advertise digitally or through print media… this is a criminal act against the Congress and the people of India," he said.

Meanwhile, Kharge remarked that those in power should not have direct or indirect control over constitutional bodies.

Earlier last month, the Income Tax authorities issued an order imposing a penalty worth Rs 210 crore for alleged discrepancies in I-T returns for previous years. The Congress party appealed against imposition of penalty for discrepancies in tax returns for previous years and said it was exploring all legal options.

Prior to that, the Congress had also alleged that the I-Tdepartment has "withdrawn" a sum of Rs 65 crore from its accounts in different banks "undemocratically".