India’s opposition says funds frozen ahead of election

NEW DELHI: India’s main opposition Congress party said on Friday that its bank accounts had been frozen by the tax department just weeks before the expected announcement of national elections.

Critics and rights groups have accused India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of using law enforcement agencies to selectively target its political foes.

Congress spokesman Ajay Maken said the action against his party was aimed at sidelining it ahead of the polls.

“When the principal opposition party’s accounts have been frozen just two weeks before the announcement of the national elections, do you think democracy is alive in our country?” he asked reporters.“Don’t you think it is going towards one party system?” he added.

Four of Congress’s accounts had been frozen after an investigation of the party’s 2018-19 income tax returns, Maken said.

He added that the tax department had issued a payment demand for 2.1 billion rupees ($25.3 million) in relation to its probe.

Maken conceded that the party had filed its returns late by up to 45 days but insisted it 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 public protests.