Bankruptcy of Congress is moral and intellectual, not financial: BJP

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said the days of entitlement were over.

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BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra (File Photo)

The BJP on Thursday accused the Congress of insulting the country by dubbing the I-T department action on its bank accounts as “freezing of Indian democracy”, saying this reflected entitlement that the laws of the land were not applicable to one family and also the “Indira is India” — as once said by party leader Devkant Baruah — mindset of the party.

The BJP emphasised that all proceedings had been conducted as per the Income Tax Act, and that the Congress had taken all legal routes, including moving the Supreme Court, which will hear the matter on April 1. It added that the Delhi High Court had already rejected its plea.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said the days of entitlement were over.

BJP president J P Nadda posted on X: “Congress is going to be totally rejected by the people and fearing a historic defeat, their top leadership… ranted against Indian democracy and institutions. They are conveniently blaming their irrelevance on “financial troubles”. In reality, their bankruptcy is moral and intellectual, not financial. Instead of correcting their own errors, Congress is blaming authorities for their troubles. Be it the ITAT or the Delhi HC, they have asked the Congress to comply with the rules, pay the taxes due but the party never did so.”

Former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “Under… the IT Act, a political party is exempted from income tax provided they file their return every year as to how much money has come up to Rs 20,000 and duly certified auditor’s report as to how much they have received from large donations. Otherwise they lose that exemption… On 6/7/21, an order was passed for assessment year 2018-19, as they had not filed their return….”

Vikas Pathak

Vikas Pathak is deputy associate editor with The Indian Express and writes on national politics. He has over 17 years of experience, and has worked earlier with The Hindustan Times and The Hindu, among other publications. He has covered the national BJP, some key central ministries and Parliament for years, and has covered the 2009 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and many state assembly polls. He has interviewed many Union ministers and Chief Ministers. Vikas has taught as a full-time faculty member at Asian College of Journalism, Chennai; Symbiosis International University, Pune; Jio Institute, Navi Mumbai; and as a guest professor at Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. Vikas has authored a book, Contesting Nationalisms: Hinduism, Secularism and Untouchability in Colonial Punjab (Primus, 2018), which has been widely reviewed by top academic journals and leading newspapers. He did his PhD, M Phil and MA from JNU, New Delhi, was Student of the Year (2005-06) at ACJ and gold medalist from University Rajasthan College in Jaipur in graduation. He has been invited to top academic institutions like JNU, St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and IIT Delhi as a guest speaker/panellist. ... Read More

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