iNDICA NEWS BUREAU–
The Congress party on Thursday fielded its big guns Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and former Presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in a news conference as they trained their guns on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party over the “freezing” of the party’s bank accounts. Addressing a press conference, the Congress President said that it was a “dangerous game” and demanded a “level playing field.”
“The Supreme Court called electoral bonds illegal and unconstitutional. Under that scheme, the present ruling party filled its accounts with thousands and crores of rupees. On the other hand, under a conspiracy, the bank account of the main opposition party has been frozen. So that, in the absence of funds, there is no level-playing field in contesting the elections,” Kharge said on Thursday.
Sonia Gandhi said, “This issue affects not just the Congress, it impacts our democracy itself most fundamentally. A systematic effort is underway by the Prime Minister to cripple the Indian National Congress financially.”
“Funds collected from the public are being frozen and money from our accounts is being taken away forcibly. However, even under these most challenging circumstances, we are doing our very best to maintain the effectiveness of our election campaign,” she said.
Attacking the BJP government over the electoral bond issue, Sonia said, “On one hand, there is the electoral bond issue, which has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Electoral bonds benefit the BJP hugely. On the other hand, the finances of the principal opposition party, the India National Congress, are under a determined assault.”
“This, we all believe, is unprecedented and undemocratic,” Sonia Gandhi added.
Rahul Gandhi said, “This is a criminal action on the Congress party, a criminal action done by the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. So, 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.”.
He added, “Twenty per cent 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.”
Rahul Gandhi claimed that since all Congress’ bank accounts have been frozen, “We can do no campaign work, we cannot support our workers, we cannot support our candidates. This has been done two months before the election campaign. One notice comes from the 90s, another from 6-7 years back. The amount is ₹1.4 million and the punishment is our entire financial identity. All the institutions are quiet and the Election Commission has not even said anything,” he added.
He further said that the party has already lost a month fighting the IT case and its ability to fight elections has been damaged.
“This is not freezing of Congress party’s bank accounts; this is the freezing of Indian democracy. 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,” he added.
Kharge said, “This is a dangerous game by the ruling party, which will have a far-reaching impact. If democracy in this country has to be saved, there has to be a level-playing ground.”
Kharge emphasized that it is essential for a democracy that elections are conducted in an impartial manner.
“Lok Sabha elections have been announced. It is essential for a democracy that elections are conducted in an impartial manner and a level playing ground is provided to all political parties. It should not be that ED, I-T and other autonomous bodies are controlled. In the last few days, after intervention by SC, the facts about electoral bonds which have emerged have hurt the image of the country,” he added.
The Congress chief further added that the BJP-led government is collecting money through various loopholes and claimed that they have 5 star offices and use flights for each meeting.
“Holding fair polls is essential, there should be level playing field; those in power should not have monopolies over resources. Those in power should not have direct or indirect control over constitutional bodies. Defreeze our accounts to ensure level playing field in polls,” he added.
He further said that he does not want to mention how the BJP took money from some companies adding that truth will be before us soon.
“I don’t want to mention how the BJP took money from some companies. As SC is probing the matter, I hope the truth will be before us soon,” he added.
The Congress chief further appealed to constitutional bodies that they should allow their party to access bank accounts if they want free, fair polls.
“I appeal to the constitutional institutions that if they want free and fair elections, then they should allow us to freely access our bank accounts. No political party comes under the purview of income tax,” he added.
The Electoral Bond Scheme was a way for political parties in India to get money without revealing the donor’s identity. But, the Supreme Court, in a ruling in February, struck down the Centre’s Electoral Bond Scheme and ordered the SBI to stop issuing Electoral Bonds immediately.
In compliance with a directive from the Supreme Court, the Election Commission of India (ECI) recently uploaded data on electoral bonds to its official website. The State Bank of India (SBI) supplied the information, which includes details about these electoral bonds.
Congress on the offensive against BJP after Income Tax Dept freezes bank accounts
