The Congress on March 29 mapped four routes to accuse the BJP of mopping up Rs 8,250 crore in the name of donations through electoral bonds to cover up its understated deals with various companies for government contracts.
The Opposition party's alleged four routes that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) adopted to raise money included the prepaid bribe route, postpaid bribe route, post-raid route, and shell company route.
During a press conference, senior Congressman Jairam Ramesh said that the BJP illegally utilised the now-scrapped Electoral Bonds Scheme for allegedly accepting money from companies in exchange for contracts.
Ramesh further accused the BJP-led Centre of making concerted efforts to impede the Congress from contesting the Lok Sabha polls and accused the ruling side of engaging in “tax-terrorism”.
Congress treasurer Ajay Maken remarked that the concept of a level playing field has vanished under the BJP regime and added that political opponents are under attack from various quarters. “The BJP is being favoured even by the Income Tax Department, while the Congress is being penalised by it. As the principal opposition, the government is making all attempts to cripple us,” he said.
Maken alleged that political parties are required to furnish donation details in a specific format with the Election Commission of India, yet the BJP is violating these rules without facing any consequences.
On March 21, Congress’ top leadership claimed had claimed that the BJP-led Centre has frozen the party’s bank accounts, affecting its campaign ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. However, the saffron party has responded, saying that the grand old party fears historic defeat and is blaming financial troubles.
During a rare joint press conference held at the AICC headquarters, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi said that the accounts frozen by the government have not only affected the Indian National Congress but have also impacted democracy most fundamentally.
On the other hand, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had said that it is difficult to imagine when the financial identity of anyone is erased. As the bank accounts were frozen, party leaders are unable to campaign.
“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,” said Rahul Gandhi.
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