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Rahul Gandhi slams Centre, says 'Congress bank accounts frozen, can't campaign'
Rahul Gandhi made the remarks during a rare joint press conference attended by Sonia Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, highlighting the financial troubles of the party, on Thursday claimed that all accounts of the party have been frozen and that it cannot undertake any campaign ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
“This is not freezing of Congress party's bank accounts, this is the freezing of Indian democracy,” Rahul Gandhi said. "As the biggest opposition party, we are unable to take any action - we can't book advertisements or send our leaders anywhere. This is an assault on democracy."
Rahul Gandhi made the remarks during a rare joint press conference attended by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and incumbent president Mallikarjun Kharge.
The Wayanad MP alleged that the action against the account of the Congress party came two months before the election campaign.
“One notice comes from the 90s, another from 6-7 years ago,” Gandhi said. “Quantum amount ₹14 Lakhs and punishment - our entire financial identity...The Election Commission has not even said anything...Already, our ability to fight elections has been damaged, we have already lost a month,” he said.
Further, Rahul Gandhi also blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah. “This is a criminal action on the Congress party, a criminal action done by the prime minister and the home minister,” Gandhi said.
He added: "The idea that India is a democracy is a lie. There is no democracy in India today. The idea that India is the world's largest democracy is a lie. A complete lie. 20% of India votes for us and we are not able to pay ₹2 for anything. It has been orchestrated to cripple us in the elections. Even if our bank accounts are unfrozen today, huge amount of debt damage has been done to Indian democracy."
Systematic effort by Modi to cripple Congress: Sonia Gandhi
During Thursday's press conference, Sonia Gandhi alleged there has been a “systematic effort” by Modi to “cripple” the Congress financially.
"The issue we are taking up today is extremely serious. The issue affects not just the Indian National Congress but the democracy itself. A systematic effort is underway by the Prime Minister to cripple the Indian National Congress financially," Sonia Gandhi said.
Mallikarjun Kharge said that a fair election is essential for any democracy, along with a level playing field for all the political parties.
"It shouldn't be the case that the one in the power should have the authority over media and control over IT, ED, Election Commission and other autonomous bodies,” the Congress president said.
Income Tax notice to Congress
In February, the income tax department seized the party's four main bank accounts on an income tax demand of ₹210 crore for 2018-19.
The grand old party approached the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal seeking a stay on the action of the IT department, saying that they would not be able to “pay bills and salaries if their accounts were frozen”.
However, the tribunal dismissed the grand old party's application.
Following this, the Congress approached the Delhi high court challenging the tribunal's order on March 8. The assessing officer had raised a tax demand of more than ₹100 crore for the assessment year 2018-19 when the income was assessed to be more than ₹199 crore.
Last week, the high court refused to interfere with the order of the tribunal declining to stay a notice issued by the IT department to the Congress.
