Rahul Gandhi Takes Dig At PM Modi After Income Tax Dept Freezes, Restores Congress Accounts

After the Congress's accounts were frozen by the Income Tax department, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi made a jibe at PM Modi, saying that the Prime Minister was scared of his party.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that he was scared of the "power of the people". Rahul Gandhi was reacting to the freezing of four accounts of the Congress and its youth wing by the Income Department. "Daro mat Modiji. Congress dhan ki taaqat nahi, jan ki taaqat ka naam hai. [Don't be scared Modiji. Congress is not about the power of money, it's the name of the power of the people]. We have never bowed before dictatorship, nor will we ever bow down. Every Congress worker will fight tooth and nail to protect India's democracy.]"

Hours after Congress treasurer Ajay Maken claimed on Friday that the Income Tax department had frozen its accounts, the party's leader Vivek Tankha said the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal had restored them. According to sources, the Congress can resume operations on the accounts under strict supervision of the Income Tax Department. A hearing on the matter for interim relief will be held on Wednesday next week.

However, confusion prevailed as Maken further hinted that the restoration meant little for the party as its account had much less than the lien amount allowed by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. A lien is the minimum amount required to be kept in the account to clear dues or pay debts. He posted on X: "On our petition, Income Tax Department and the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has said that we have to ensure that Rs 115 crores have to be kept in the Banks. This 115 crore is the lien marked in the Bank Accounts. We can spend an amount over and above that. This means that Rs 115 crores have been frozen. This Rs 115 crores is much more than we have in our Current Accounts."

The Youth Congress, whose account was among those frozen by the Income Tax department, lashed out at the Centre. "Before the elections, the Modi government cuts off the Indian National Congress’ financial resources. A serious assault on democratic freedoms," it said in an X post.

Why Did Income Tax Department Freeze Congress Bank Accounts?

The Income Tax Department's action came a day after the Supreme Court struck down the Electoral Bonds scheme as 'unconstitutional'. Maken alleged that this was a ploy to throttle democracy as the largest Opposition party was being prevented from spending right before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Maken said that the I-T department had frozen the accounts over tax demands from 2018-19, a period of the last Lok Sabha election. "We have come to know that banks are not honouring the cheque we are issuing. When we  investigated the matter, we found out that the Congress's bank accounts were frozen. Democracy had been hijacked," Maken said.

"The Income Tax department asked for Rs 210-crore recovery from Youth Congress and Congress. The crowdfunding money in our accounts has been frozen just two weeks before elections. This money does not belong to any corporate," he added.