Prime Minister Narendra Modi is accused by the main opposition Congress party in India of hurting the party ahead of the 2018 general election by blocking its accounts in an income tax dispute on Thursday.
The party has previously stated that a portion of the Congress’ bank accounts was frozen last month while a tax case from 2018–19 is underway. Its request to halt the recovery of 1.35 billion rupees ($16.32 million) in income tax from its bank accounts was denied earlier this month by a tax tribunal.
Rahul Gandhi, the head of the Congress, announced on Thursday that the party’s accounts had all been stopped, preventing it from using any money for campaigning.
We receive 20% of India’s votes, yet we are unable to pay even two rupees for anything.
Beginning next month, there will be seven stages of general elections. Most surveys indicate that Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will win handily.
The major contender against Modi is thought to be the Congress, which is in charge of an eclectic coalition of rival political groups for the next general elections.
“We are unable to work on a campaign. It is not possible for our leaders to go across the nation by air. “They can’t even purchase a train ticket, so forget about flying,” Gandhi remarked of the tax issue, claiming that it resulted in the freezing of all party bank accounts.
Gandhi’s accusations were swiftly refuted by the BJP, which said that the Congress was required to take legal action due to its tax cheating.
A Reuters request for comment was not immediately answered by an official from India’s Income Tax department.
According to the Congress, the monies in the seized accounts included money that the party had raised through membership drives and crowdsourcing.
After Modi stormed to power in 2014, the party, which has controlled India for 54 of its 76 years since independence from Britain, dropped to record low numbers in parliament and is now having difficulty reviving popularity.
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