Launching a scathing attack on the BJP-led Centre over freezing the party's bank accounts ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Thursday said it was a systematic effort by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cripple the Congress financially. The allegations surfaced as the grand old party today stepped up its demand for access to the bank accounts to ensure a level playing field in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls.
In a press conference that was also addressed by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, the party stressed that the move by the Centre not just impacted the Congress but democracy in India.
The three senior leaders were flanked by Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh and AICC treasurer Ajay Maken at the press conference.
BJP Looted Donations Given To Our Party: Congress Slams BJP Over Freezing Accounts
Commenting on the recent incident when the main bank accounts of the Congress party were frozen by the Income Tax Department, the party's chief treasurer Ajay Maken said, "The BJP has looted donations given to the Congress party by the common public by freezing our accounts and forcibly withdrawing Rs 115.32 crore from them."
Terming the move a criminal action against the Congress by the prime minister and home minister, Rahul Gandhi said, "There is no democracy in India today and the idea that India is the world’s largest democracy is a complete lie."
"...We can do no campaign work... Our ability to fight elections has been damaged", Rahul Gandhi said.
"This is a criminal action on the Congress party (freezing of bank accounts), a criminal action done by the Prime Minister and the Home Minister...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 Rs 2 for anything," he further added.
Furthermore, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge appealed to constitutional bodies to allow the Congress to access bank accounts if they want free and fair polls and added that holding fair polls is essential.
The party in power, he said, amassed funds through electoral bonds while freezing the Congress' accounts to create hurdles for it in fighting polls.
"Those in power should not have direct or indirect control over constitutional bodies," he said, adding that those in power should not have monopoly over resources.
"Defreeze our accounts to ensure a level playing field in polls," Kharge demanded.
"There are institutions that are supposed to protect the democratic framework but nothing is happening," he said.
Supporting her fellow party leaders in the chorus of condemning the ruling party, the former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi also termed the issue as "very, very serious" and said it affects not just the Congress but "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," she said.
"However, even under these most challenging circumstances, we are doing our best to maintain the effectiveness of our election campaign," she said.
"On the one hand, there is the electoral bond issue, which has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The electoral bonds have benefitted the BJP hugely. On the other hand, the finances of the principal opposition party, the INC, are under a determined assault," she said.
This is truly unprecedented, Sonia Gandhi added.
