The Narendra Modi government has not just frozen the accounts of the Congress but has also frozen democracy in the country, the opposition party’s Maharashtra unit chief Nana Patole claimed on Friday.
Addressing a press conference, Patole said the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were a battle to save the Constitution and democracy.
Fearing defeat, the Union government has conspired to eliminate opposition parties using probe agencies, and as part of this, Jharkhand’s tribal chief minister Hemant Soren was arrested first and now Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been held, he said.
The accounts of the Congress have been frozen to prevent the party from contesting the elections. The Modi government has not only frozen the accounts of Congress but has also frozen democracy in the country. The BJP’s motto is to have One Nation, One Election and No Opposition, Patole told reporters.
The Income Tax department on the behest of the BJP has prepared a plan to freeze the Congress’ accounts to put it in a financial crisis, Patole said.
No political party, including the Bharatiya Janata Party, pays income tax. In that case, why did the Income Tax Department take action only on the Congress and freeze 11 bank accounts of the party? Why did the Income Tax Department not show the courage to take action against the BJP? he asked.
The issue is about the Rs 210 crore donations received by the Congress in 2017-18, and the Income Tax Department imposed a penalty of 106 percent and forcibly withdrew Rs 115 crore from the party’s account on the pretext that its MPs had given Rs 14.49 lakh in cash, he claimed.
The Congress has no money to campaign for elections. After 31 years, the Income Tax Department has sent a notice for the donation made by Sitaram Kesari when he was the Congress treasurer in 1993-94. Modi knows political parties do not come under the ambit of income tax. Has BJP ever paid income tax, he questioned.
On the other hand, the BJP is collecting crores of rupees through the electoral bonds scheme, which is the world’s largest extortion racket, he alleged.
Most of the companies that donate through electoral bonds are bogus, he alleged.
Elections must be held in a free and fair environment in a democratic system but the Modi government is killing the opposition because the picture of Bharatiya Janata Party’s crushing defeat is clear, Patole claimed.
