India’s largest opposition party, the Indian National Congress (INC), claimed on Thursday that the Indian Income Tax (IT) Department froze their bank accounts over alleged discrepancies from assessment years as early as 1994-95. Assessment years refer to the period in which taxpayers assess and report their income to the tax authorities for tax calculation purposes.

INC held a press conference Thursday in which they informed the public about the alleged freezing of their bank accounts. Son of the former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and a senior leader in the INC, Rahul Gandhi, stated:

All our bank accounts have been frozen. We cannot do our campaign work. We cannot support our workers and candidates. Our leaders cannot travel from one part of the country to the other. We’re unable to put out our ads. This is being done two months before the election campaign. This is a criminal action against the Congress party, done by the PM and the Home Minister. It is being orchestrated to cripple us before the elections.  There are institutions in the country that are supposed to protect the democratic framework.  No court is saying anything, the Election Commission is silent, no other institution is saying anything, and the media is not saying anything. There is no democracy in India today. The people of India are being robbed of their Constitution and democratic structure.

On the other hand, the spokesperson of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed the move was a regular proceeding unrelated to the upcoming elections. He added:

As far as bank account freezing is concerned if you are a defaulter, you will be treated like one. The sense of entitlement that the Gandhi family had that even if we were a defaulter, provisions of the law of this country would not apply to us. The era of this kind of entitlement is now over under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The general elections for the lower house, Lok Sabha, of the Indian Parliament are scheduled to be held between April 19 and June 1, with the results to be declared on June 4. This election is also responsible for the election of the Indian Prime Minister and the formation of the Indian Central Government.

However, there have been multiple controversies in the run-up to the much-anticipated general elections. These include serious allegations against the ruling party, including accusations of unethical financial gains and harassment of the opposition. Recently, the Indian Supreme Court held the contentious electoral bonds scheme was unconstitutional and ordered the release of all funding data to the public. The subsequent publication of data in the public revealed a concerning pattern of funding by individuals and corporations to political parties, which also indicated unethical and illegal gains by the donors. This scheme was launched by the Indian government in 2018 and allowed anonymous funding to political parties.