Congress alleges account closure says, 'No money to pay electric bills, salaries'

Congress spokesperson Ajay Maken made significant allegations against the central government, stating that the Income Tax Department has frozen the accounts of both Congress and Youth Congress based on 2018-19 income tax returns, with a recovery order of Rs 210 crore issued.

The party said it has approached the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal against the action of the department. “Democracy has completely ended in India. All the accounts of the country's main opposition party have been frozen,” Maken said in a press conference.

Maken, in a press conference on Friday, accused the central government of stifling democracy by freezing the accounts of opposition parties, just weeks before elections.

On Thursday the party received the information that banks are not honouring the cheques issued by the party. He added,"right now we don't have any money to spend, to pay electricity bills, to pay salaries to our employees. Everything will be impacted, not only Nyay Yatra but all political activities will be impacted." 

However, an hour after Maken's press conference, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha said that the party approached the Income Tax Appellate Authority (ITAT) over the issue, which granted interim relief.