Invoking unfair tactics from the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress called for equal opportunities in the next Lok Sabha elections on Thursday. Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge expressed his displeasure during a news conference held at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters, claiming that the governing party had stopped its bank accounts, which is causing the party a number of difficulties during the election campaign.
Kharge also insisted on the restoration of Congress' financial accounts, pleading with the constitutional authorities. "Appeal to constitutional bodies that they should allow our party to access bank accounts if they want free, fair polls" , said the head of the Congress.
Speaking directly to the center, Kharge claimed that while attempting to stifle the opposition, the BJP had amassed enormous sums of money through electoral bonds. "[The] Party in power amassed funds through electoral bonds while freezing our accounts to create hurdles for us in fighting polls," Kharge stated.
Sonia Gandhi, a prominent member of Congress, said that funds from the organization's bank accounts were being stolen by force. Gandhi drew attention to the unfair tactics and stated that account freezing is a major problem that impacts Indian democracy overall.
Leader of the Congress party Ajay Maken questioned in a news release why just the 11 bank accounts of the Congress party were blocked, while other political parties - including the BJP - paid income taxes. He added that the party requested to compute penalties after 31 years of assessment and that they had received new letters from the Income Tax Department for FY 1994.
Congressman Rahul Gandhi voiced his anger at the condition of constitutional institutions' silence on the issue while discussing the disastrous effects of the frozen bank accounts. "You have been robbed of the country's democratic infrastructure," said Gandhi.
He said that the inability of Congress to pay its employees for campaigning had cost them valuable time over the past month. We are unable to purchase train tickets for our leaders and employees, advertise online or in the media, etc. He declared that this was a criminal act against the Indian people and the Congress.
Kharge, meanwhile, stated that persons in positions of authority shouldn't have any direct or indirect influence over constitutional bodies.
