 "CWC meeting, congress commttiee, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge,")
The Congress on Friday said it had received fresh notices from the income-tax (I-T) department asking it to pay Rs 1,823.08 crore and accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of resorting to “tax terrorism” to cripple it financially, especially as the Lok Sabha polls are underway.
Sources in the Communist Party of India (CPI) said the party had received a notice from the I-T department asking it to pay Rs 11 crore in “dues”, comprising penalties and interest, for using an old PAN card to file tax returns during the last few years.
Trinamool Congress leader Saket Gokhale also claimed he has received 11 I-T notices in the past 72 hours, PTI reported.
The Congress alleged that the government agencies were applying different rules on the Opposition parties, while not hauling the BJP for similar misdemeanours. It said there was no level playing field, and government departments have behaved like the BJP's frontal organisations.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge accused the BJP-led Centre of misusing institutions like the income-tax department, ED and CBI to subvert democracy and belittle the Constitution, and asked why is the I-T department being used as a weapon to harass the principal opposition party.
Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal has asked the party's state units to hold nationwide protests on Saturday against “the BJP's effort to eliminate the Congress financially”.
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At a press conference in the national capital, Congress Treasurer Ajay Maken said the I-T department has “snatched” Rs 135 crore from the party for not disclosing details, such as names and addresses, of the donors of Rs 14 lakh in donations in 2017-18. He said the Congress used a programming language to scour the Election Commission's website to find that the BJP failed to disclose the details of 1,297 of its donors in 2017-18, who cumulatively donated Rs 42 crore to that party.
"It is a clear violation. The IT department ignored their violation of Rs 42 crore but issued a notice to us for Rs 14 lakh that was donated by our MPs and legislators, and we provided the -IT department with the details later,” Maken said. He said of the 1,297 donors, the BJP didn't provide the names of 92 of its donors. Maken said his party's analysis found that the BJP received as much as Rs 2.5 crore in donations in the past two years, but it didn't disclose the names of its donors and failed to furnish the addresses of 126 of its donors.
Maken said the Congress has analysed the BJP’s documents submitted to the tax authorities over the past seven years. If the same rules were applied to the BJP, the I-T department should raise a demand of Rs 4,600 crore from the BJP because of these violations. Maken pointed out that his party had received IT notices from 1993-94, including a fresh demand of Rs 53.9 crore related to three decades back. Similarly, there are notices related to the last five years, with a total demand of Rs 1,823 crore.
He said the I-T department made entries in some diaries that it has recovered as the basis for raising the demand on the Congress. “So if old diaries are the basis for raising these demands, then what about the 'Jain diaries', in which LK Advani's name was mentioned? Shouldn't the IT Department demand tax from the BJP for that? If it can raise tax demand from the Congress based on D K Shivakumar diaries, then what about the B S Yediyurappa diaries, or Bangaru Laxman accepting cash donations," Maken asked, stating that the timing of these tax demands was questionable as these come so close to the Lok Sabha polls since the diaries were recovered in 2019.
Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said the BJP received over Rs 8,000 crore as donations through the "electoral bond scam", and the Congress analysis of the BJP's donations shows the complete hypocrisy of the BJP, which is engaged in tax terrorism.
BJP spokesperson Syed Zafar Islam said the Congress allegations against the Commissioner of Income Tax, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, and the Delhi High Court betrayed its frustration. Instead of issuing media statements, the Congress should follow the rules and deposit the tax. He said the Congress talks about democracy being in danger to escape facing the law.
A Trinamool Congress delegation of senior leaders submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission seeking its intervention to stop the "BJP's continued misuse of central agencies against Opposition leaders ahead of the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha polls”.
