Congress' bank accounts frozen over Rs 210-crore income tax demand, alleges Ajay Maken

Four bank accounts of the Congress party have been frozen.

Congress party’s treasurer and senior leader Ajay Maken alleged on February 16 that the four bank accounts of the party and the Youth Congress have been frozen by the Income Tax Department, and a demand of Rs 210 crore has been raised in connection with the income tax return case of 2018-19.

The main opposition party’s accounts have been frozen just two weeks before the announcement of the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections, said Maken, adding that "democracy has been attacked".

“Do you think democracy is alive in our country? Don’t you think it is heading towards a one-party system, where only one party is allowed to exist? The money with the Congress party is not from corporates, bonds, or big houses. The money has come to us from crowd funding of workers and collected around Rs 25 crore,” said Maken.

He mentioned that the funding to Congress has been done legally through UPI and online platforms, with no cash accepted, and now this account has been frozen.

On the other hand, Maken alleged that the BJP, which collected more than Rs 6,500 crore through unconstitutional corporate bonds, still has its accounts active. “Democracy doesn’t exist anymore in our country. I appeal to the judiciary to come and free democracy from the clutches of the ruling party, which is busy demolishing all the opposition parties,” Maken added.

The Congress will hit the ground and start protests across the country, and the party hopes there will be action from the appellate tribunal of the Income Tax.

Four bank accounts of the party have been frozen by the Income Tax Department, Maken informed. He said: “2018-2019 was the election year, and the deadline to submit account details was December 31, 2019. The Congress party was late by 40-45 days, but it is not a big reason to raise a demand of Rs 210 crore.”