DNA Exclusive: Analysis Of Congress Party's Electoral 'Accounts'

Stay tuned to Zee News show DNA for a detailed analysis of Congress's politics on the Income Tax Department's move to freeze its bank accounts.

NEW DELHI: When the Income Tax department freezes someone's bank account, it is a financial issue. However, when the Income Tax department freezes the bank accounts of the Congress party to recover its dues, it becomes a political issue. That's exactly what happened today. When the Income Tax department froze the Congress's bank accounts, Congress labelled it as a ''freeze on democracy''. They proclaimed that the Narendra Modi government has shut down Congress's accounts. Interestingly, as soon as Congress began its political rhetoric, its bank accounts were unfrozen, and Congress's worries dissipated. Today, we will put Congress's income tax politics to the DNA test.

This morning, the Congress party held a press conference during which its leader Ajay Maken made sensational allegations that under the Modi government's rule, ''democracy has been frozen''. Everyone thought that if the Congress party was making such a big accusation, something significant must have happened. But it turned out to be much ado about nothing.

In reality, democracy wasn't frozen; only four bank accounts of the Congress party were frozen. Not all bank accounts were frozen, just four of them. Congress declared it as a freeze on democracy. Interestingly, at 11 am, Congress revealed through a press conference that its four bank accounts were frozen, and within an hour and a half, that is, by 12:30 pm., Congress's bank accounts were reactivated.

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According to Congress leader Ajay Maken, Congress was informed on February 14th that checks issued by Congress were not being honoured by banks. Upon inquiry with the bank, it was revealed that the bank accounts of the Congress party, including those of the Youth Congress, were frozen. The reason cited was that the Income Tax department has demanded a recovery of 210 crore rupees from Congress and Youth Congress. Due to non-payment, Congress's bank accounts were frozen.

This issue is related to income tax. And matters related to income tax are financial issues. For this, Congress approached the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal on February 15th. Before the ITAT could order the removal of the freeze on Congress's accounts, Congress had already turned this financial issue into a political one. 

Why is Congress so agitated over the sealing of four bank accounts? If bank accounts are sealed, why is Congress so afraid of what will happen next? How will they fight elections? Congress dramatized the freezing of its bank accounts by calling it a freeze on democracy and claimed it was a conspiracy by the Modi government to stop Congress from contesting elections. But within an hour, Congress's bank accounts were reactivated, and ITAT provided relief to Congress.

After going through this report, you must have understood how skilled Congress is at making a mountain out of a molehill. Now, we want to ask some questions to the country's oldest party, Congress. The question is, how did the freezing of Congress party's four bank accounts equate to a freeze on democracy? If Congress runs out of money to pay electricity bills, employee salaries, and for legal proceedings, does that mean democracy within India has ceased to exist completely?

Even if Congress's bank accounts were sealed, does that mean that only one party's politics will remain in the country? Does Congress consider itself to be India and its bank accounts as India's democracy? Because according to Congress's logic, it seems like its bank accounts haven't been sealed; instead, democracy itself has been sealed. This case is a simple one for the Income Tax department, and the freezing of Congress's accounts was done while adhering to the complete legal process.

The interesting thing here is that Congress's bank accounts were frozen when the Income Tax department was cracking down on tax evaders and those misusing electoral funds for money laundering purposes. In fact, it's not hidden from anyone that electoral funds are often misused for tax evasion and money laundering. In such a scenario, it would have been better if Congress had also revealed why the report of electoral funds received in 2018-19 was delayed by 45 days to the Income Tax department.

Stay tuned to Zee News show DNA for a detailed analysis of the issue and Congress's politics on the Income Tax department's move.