India's main opposition, the Congress party, announced on Friday that its bank accounts had been frozen by the tax authorities, weeks before the expected calling of national elections.
Party spokesperson Ajay Maken said the move was aimed at putting Rahul Gandhi's movement in trouble ahead of elections, in which Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to seek a third term.
“When the accounts of the main opposition party are frozen barely two weeks before the announcement of national elections, do you think democracy is alive in our country?”
, he asked himself in front of journalists.
“You don’t think this is moving towards a one-party system?”
, he added.
According to Maken, the Indian tax authorities are seeking payment of 2.1 billion rupees ($25.3 million) as part of an investigation into the party's tax returns for the 2018-2019 financial year.
Maken admitted that the Congress party had filed its tax returns up to 45 days late.
But he insisted he had done nothing to warrant such a penalty.
“Today is a sad day for Indian democracy
,” he said, adding that the party was appealing the decision in court and would stage protests.
Investigations against the opposition
Opposition and rights groups regularly accuse the government of Narendra Modi of using institutions to target its political enemies.
Friday's announcement follows numerous ongoing sanctions and investigations against the main opponents of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, scion of the dynasty that dominated Indian politics for decades, was found guilty of defamation last year after a complaint filed by a BJP member.
His two-year prison sentence disqualified him from Parliament, until the verdict was suspended on appeal.
The episode raised concerns about respect for democratic standards in the world's most populous country.
Once India's dominant political force, the Congress party lost the last two national elections, in 2014 and 2019, to the BJP.
He is competing in the upcoming elections as part of a disparate alliance.
Arvind Kejriwal, leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, another member of this opposition alliance, and also chief minister of the Delhi region, has been summoned several times by investigators over allegations of corruption in the allocation of licenses for alcohol sales.
In early February, police arrested Hemant Soren, the chief minister of eastern Jharkhand state and another prominent opposition figure, accusing him of helping with an alleged illegal land sale.
India's top financial investigation agency is investigating at least four other chief ministers who rule Indian states or their families, all from opposition parties.
Other investigations have been dropped against former BJP rivals who later switched allegiance to the ruling party.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, for his part, deplored the alleged failures of the Congress party to fulfill its tax obligations.
“It is unfortunate that a big party like Congress does not play by the rules of government.
If he does not respect the rules, he must then face the consequences
,” he declared.