Earlier, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said the action on the accounts of the Congress party meant there was no level playing field in the Lok Sabha polls”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.”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 field,” he added.Kharge emphasised that it is essential for a democracy that elections are conducted in an impartial manner and appealed to constitutional bodies to allow access to the party’s back accounts if they want free and fair elections.On March 8, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) had rejected the Congress’ plea to stay action against its bank accounts and the imposition of penalties for discrepancies in tax returns for previous years. Following the decision, the party moved the Delhi High Court to challenge the ITAT’s dismissal.On February 21, the Congress had accused the Income Tax Department of “withdrawing” Rs 65 crore from its accounts in different banks “undemocratically” even when the case pertaining to their return for previous years had been sub judice.This comes after the Congress party had said that its main bank accounts had been frozen on February 15 over an income tax demand of Rs 210 crore, with Kharge calling the move a “deep assault on India’s democracy.” (With inputs from PTI and ANI)
Source link
