BJP misusing agencies to subvert democracy, belittle Constitution: Kharge

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also hit out at BJP, accusing it of indulging in “tax terrorism”.

Also Read: Congress says it received fresh I-T notices of over ₹1,800 crore

Rahul Gandhi promises action

“When the government changes, action will definitely be taken against those who have ‘disrobed democracy’. And such exemplary action will be taken that no one will dare to do all this again. This is my guarantee,” Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.

He also tagged a previous video of his and used the hashtag “#BJPTaxTerrorism” with his post.

जब सरकार बदलेगी तो ‘लोकतंत्र का चीरहरण’ करने वालों पर कार्रवाई ज़रूर होगी!

और ऐसी कार्रवाई होगी कि दोबारा फिर किसी की हिम्मत नहीं होगी, ये सब करने की।

ये मेरी गारंटी है।#BJPTaxTerrorism pic.twitter.com/SSkiolorvH

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 29, 2024

Kharge said a penalty of ₹4,600 crore has been “overlooked” for BJP’s ₹42-crore unaccounted deposits, while a penalty of ₹135 crore is being demanded for the Congress’s ₹14-lakh cash deposits by MLAs and MPs.

“Who is pressurising the Income Tax department to act in this unjustified manner only against the opposition? Why is the IT department being allowed to be used as a weapon to harass the principal opposition party — Congress! They are misusing institutions like IT, ED, CBI to subvert democracy and belittle the Constitution,” he alleged in a post on X.

Citing examples, Kharge said the I-T department has now given a notice to the Congress for a total amount of ₹1,823 crore and has already withdrawn ₹135 crore from the party’s accounts, which were funds collected by the party through crowdsourcing.

“But IT did not give any notice to BJP. Despite the fact that public information of the Election Commission clearly shows that 1,297 people have deposited ₹42 crore to BJP in 2017-18 without mentioning their names and addresses,” Kharge claimed.

The Congress chief said his party was fined ₹135 crore for ₹14 lakh deposits and its account was frozen. “But in the last 7 years, this penalty to BJP amounts to a whopping ₹4,600 crore,” he claimed.

“Our direct question is why is BJP getting this penalty exemption?” Kharge asked.

₹4,600 Cr penalty overlooked for BJP's ₹42 Cr unaccounted deposit, while ₹135 Cr penalty is demanded for Congress' for ₹14 lakh cash deposits by MLAs & MPs!

Who is pressurising the Income Tax Department to act in this unjustified manner only against the Opposition?

Why is…

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) March 29, 2024

Also Read: For ‘Bhoomi Putra’ Kharge, prestigious LS poll battle in Karnataka

Questions I-T notices to BJP

He also asked, “Do these IT notices dating many years ago being served right before Lok Sabha elections prove BJP’s conspiracy to capture the level playing field?”

Citing details, he said a penalty of ₹54 crore has been imposed by the I-T authorities for the year 1993-94, ₹182 crore for 2016-17, ₹179 crore for 2017-18, ₹918 crore for 2018-19 and ₹480 crore for 2019-20.

“Congresspersons are never afraid! We will fight the elections with our full might. We will free the country’s institutions from the BJP dictatorship,” Kharge said.

Accusing the government of indulging in “tax terrorism”, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said for alleged violations committed in the last six years, the opposition party was served a notice for ₹1,823 crore.

“For those very same violations, in the very same time period, the BJP should have been slapped with notices for ₹4,600 crore.

“All that Ajay Maken did was to use the R programming language to drill down the data submitted by the BJP itself, which is available publicly on the ECI’s website. We have attached the code to this tweet.

“It follows that either the Khatabandi on the INC accounts is unjustified and a blatant misuse of government agencies, or that the IT department is willfully neglecting the BJP’s fraudulent practices,” Ramesh said in a post on X.

आज मेरे सहयोगी और AICC के कोषाध्यक्ष @ajaymaken ने दो महत्वपूर्ण तथ्यों को हाइलाइट किया है। ये दो ऐसे महत्वपूर्ण तथ्य हैं जो 2024 के लोकसभा चुनावों के लिए समान अवसर में ख़तरा पैदा कर रहे हैं –

1. @INCIndia पर 2017-18 के 14 लाख रुपए के वायलेशन का आरोप लगाकर 135 करोड़ रुपए का… https://t.co/v8JyndTVX6 pic.twitter.com/gYHfD3hUDe

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) March 29, 2024

Congress on Friday said it has received fresh notices from the income-tax department, asking it to pay ₹1,823.08 crore, and alleged that BJP is in “serious violation” of income-tax laws for which authorities should raise a demand for more than ₹4,600 crore from the saffron party.

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