“Tax Terrorism”: Congress Accuses BJP Of Launching Premediated Attacks Ahead Of Elections

Responding to the Income Tax Department’s fresh notice of Rs 1700 crore, the Congress party has accused the ruling BJP of engaging in “the systematic process to thwart Indian democracy” in a recent press statement, highlighting the freezing of bank accounts for over a month of the already cash-strapped party. The party states that under Section 13, political parties are exempt from the Income Tax Act.

The press release accused the BJP of using the I-T department as its frontal organisation to operate illegally and undemocratically against the Indian National Congress (INC). Eight years’ worth of Income Tax returns of the party have been reopened on “baseless, manufactured grounds” to impose Income Tax orders amounting to thousands of crores of rupees, said the statement.

The statement also highlighted that political parties in the country were exempt from the Income Tax Act as per Section 13, adding that parties including Congress and other oppositional parties were being targeted by the BJP through the Income Tax department. The press release also emphasised that the ruling party, the BJP itself, committed serious violations of income tax laws every year.

The party also listed out the violations made by the saffron party concerning declaring the donations, particularly the names and addresses of donors, which each party has to submit to avail the income tax benefits. The information submitted is then published on the official website of the Election Commission (EC) for transparency. Congress noted that the BJP has faltered each year in its submissions by omitting the names and addresses of donors.

During the 2017–18 period, as per the statement, the BJP took donations totaling around Rs 4.5 lakhs without names, and a total of 92 donations were listed without the names of the donors. Around 1297 donations were listed with no address provided, of which Rs 42 crore have been encashed by the party. Three donations had no names or addresses, and Rs 1.50 lakhs were taken by the BJP.

During the 2021–22 and 2022–23 periods, 253 donations listed had no names, of which Rs 2.15 crore were taken by the party. 126 donations were listed without the addresses of the donors. Rs. 1.05 crores were used by the BJP from these. Rs 15.70 lakhs were taken by the party out of the total 20 donations that were listed with neither names nor addresses of the donors.

The penalty for the donation violations by the BJP amounts to Rs 4,617 crore, as per the press release.

The statement also pointed out the timing of the IT Department’s actions, both in February and March this year, regarding past IT returns as Lok Sabha elections approach. Congress stated that the IT department has taken Rs 135 crores from the party by freezing its bank accounts with a balance of Rs 270 crores, based on an allegation of non-compliance of Rs 14 lakh.

The freezing of bank accounts during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra was “designed to choke the INC financially and prevent, stop, delay, and disable any election-related expenditure by INC on ads, travel, salaries, agencies, etc.” The ongoing onslaught on Congress has now gone all the way back to the financial years of 1993–94 without proper assessments, according to the party.

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— Congress (@INCIndia) March 29, 2024

Describing it as “unprecedented in the history of taxation in India,” the party noted that out of the eight years, three years of IT demand orders are expected to be issued soon. The press release also makes note of the numerous raids on third parties who enjoy stays from courts; however, the interim reliefs were not granted to Congress.

Concluding the hard-hitting response, the Congress posed five questions to the Centre, the BJP, and “its frontal organisation,” the IT Department:

1. In the history of India, why is INC – a tax-exempt political party – being forced to pay income tax during this ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha election?
2. Why have the BJP or its alliance parties not been dealt with similarly? Why has the IT department not taken cognizance of the Yeddyurappa Diaries, Jain Diaries, Sahara Diaries, Birla Diaries, and Bangaru Lakshman convictions and penalised the BJP?
3. Why is this action dating to many years gone by only happening in February and March 2024 on the eve of and in the midst of a general election?
4. Why is the Election Commission – the guarantor of free and fair elections – a mute spectator?
5. Is this not an obvious, brazen, blatant, and shameful attempt by the BJP to illegally financially cripple the Opposition in India? Where is the level playing field in Indian elections? Can 2024 be called a free and fair election anymore?