No level playing field for polls, alleges Kharge, blames BJP for ‘frozen banks accounts’

NEW DELHI: The Congress party on Thursday fielded its big guns — Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi — in a news conference as they trained their guns on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the “freezing” of the party’s bank accounts.

Addressing a press conference, the Congress president said that it was a “dangerous game” and demanded a “level playing field.”

“The Supreme Court called electoral bonds illegal and unconstitutional. Under that scheme, the present ruling party filled its accounts with thousands and crores of rupees. On the other hand, under a conspiracy, the bank account of the main opposition party has been frozen so that, in the absence of funds, there is no level-playing field in contesting the elections”, Kharge said on Thursday.

#WATCH | Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge says, "Supreme Court called Electoral Bonds illegal and unconstitutional. Under that scheme, the present ruling party filled its accounts with thousands and crores of Rupees. On the other hand, under a conspiracy, the bank account of… pic.twitter.com/qMzeHsvUHT

— ANI (@ANI) March 21, 2024

He further said, “This is a dangerous game by the ruling party, which will have a far-reaching impact. If democracy in this country has to be saved, there has to be a level-playing ground”. Kharge emphasised that it is essential for a democracy that elections are conducted in an impartial manner.

“Lok Sabha elections have been announced. It is essential for a democracy that elections are conducted in an impartial manner and a level playing ground is provided to all political parties. It should not be that ED, I-T and other autonomous bodies are controlled. In the last few days, after intervention by SC, the facts about electoral bonds which have emerged have hurt the image of the country”, he added.

The Congress chief further added that the BJP-led government is collecting money through various loopholes and claimed that they have 5 star offices and use flights for each meeting.

“Holding fair polls is essential, there should be level playing field; those in power should not have monopolies over resources. Those in power should not have direct or indirect control over constitutional bodies. Defreeze our accounts to ensure level playing field in polls”, he added.

He further said that he does not want to mention how the BJP took money from some companies adding that truth will be before us soon. “I don’t want to mention how the BJP took money from some companies. As SC is probing the matter, I hope the truth will be before us soon,” he added.

The Congress chief further appealed to constitutional bodies that they should allow their party to access bank accounts if they want free, fair polls. “I appeal to the constitutional institutions that if they want free and fair elections, then they should allow us to freely access our bank accounts. No political party comes under the purview of income tax”, he added.

The Electoral Bond Scheme was a way for political parties in India to get money without revealing the donor’s identity. But, the Supreme Court, in a ruling in February, struck down the Centre’s Electoral Bond Scheme and ordered the SBI to stop issuing Electoral Bonds immediately.

In compliance with a directive from the Supreme Court, the Election Commission of India (ECI) recently uploaded data on electoral bonds to its official website. The State Bank of India (SBI) supplied the information, which includes details about these electoral bonds. (ANI)