Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has been accused of using the tax office to suffer them of money just two weeks before crucial elections by India’s main opposition party, the Congress party.
Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the Congress, claimed that they had made” a systematic efforts to ruin the party monetarily.”
The party said freezing its accounts, which have 2.1bn rupees ($ 25m, £20m ), was “unprecedent and undemocratic”.
The BJP and the tax office have not yet responded to the allegations.
At a press conference on Thursday, Congress made the allegations with the participation of Ajay Maken, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, and gathering main Mallikarjun Kharge.
Last month, the party said its bank accounts had been frozen by the income tax ( IT ) department just months before the country’s general elections.
Mr. Maken claimed on Thursday that 11 group accounts had been frozen and that the 2.1 billion rupees held in them had been placed under a lien, which meant they could not be withdrawn or transferred.
Mr Maken said the “unprecedented behavior” was because the income officials were owed 1.4m pounds.
” All social events are income-tax free. Then why is just the Congress being penalised”? he asked.
Mrs. Gandhi claimed that the group was unable to obtain the donations the organization had received from the general public and its employees. ” Income from our records is being taken away forcibly”, she said.
According to Mr. Kharge, these actions were affecting the level-playing discipline required to hold the 2024 public elections. They also constituted amounted to destroying politics in India.
” We are unable to spend money on our election campaign, on advertising and attention, and to pay our gathering staff and to display plan materials”, he said.
Congress party rulers also made a point about how their group was suffering financially at a time when it was just revealed that the BJP had profited “hugely” from the now-illegal political bonds program.
Mr Modi’s government launched political bonds in 2018 to produce political funding more visible. However, the plan made it possible for individuals and businesses to give anonymous donations to events.
Next month, India’s Supreme Court banned the structure, calling it “unconstitutional”, and ordered the Election Commission to share payment information to the consumer.
According to this information, the ruling BJP benefited the plan the most, obtaining about half of the donated bonds worth 120 billion rupees between 2018 and 2024.
