IT notices to Durga Puja committees: BJP wants them to surrender to saffron camp, alleges TMC

The TMC has termed the allegations as baseless. (Express Photo by Shashi Ghosh)

Chatterjee alleged that the sole intention of sending IT notices to the puja committees is to intimidate them and make them surrender to the BJP so that its leaders can control them. “They (BJP) had initially planned to take over these committees but failed. So now they are trying to threaten puja committees with IT notices. Most of these committees conduct Durga Puja with subscription taken from locals and handful of local advertisements. We fail to understand what it has to do with the Income Tax department,” Chatterjee said.

Earlier on Sunday, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee had criticised the Centre for issuing income tax notices to several Durga Puja committees in the city saying festivals should be exempt from levies.

Post the Lok Sabha elections, the two parties have been rushing to gain control of the city’s prominent pujas, a time-tested medium to reach out to the people. (Express Photo by Shashi Ghosh)

The BJP, on the other hand, had criticised TMC’s decision to hold the protest and accused a section of its leaders of laundering money “looted” in the chit fund scams in the state through the puja committees.

“Why are they(TMC) so afraid if the IT department is looking into the source of money (of the puja committees) if there is nothing wrong in it? Most of the Durga puja committees in Kolkata are controlled by TMC leaders. And they use these committees to launder black money and cut money,” senior BJP leader Mukul Roy had said.

The TMC has termed the allegations as baseless. Post the Lok Sabha elections, the two parties have been rushing to gain control of the city’s prominent pujas, a time-tested medium to reach out to the people.

(With PTI inputs)