India's main opposition Congress party says its bank
accounts have been frozen by the income tax (IT) department just months before
the country holds general elections.
The party later said that IT officials had given them access
to funds in the accounts pending a hearing in court.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge called the freezing of
funds as an "assault on democracy".
The government or the IT department have not responded to
the allegations.
Congress leader Ajay Maken told reporters on Friday morning
that the party had been informed two days ago that the cheques it was issuing
were "not being honoured" by banks.
On investigating, the party was told that "all its
accounts had been frozen".
Mr Maken said that the money in the party's accounts had
come through online crowdfunding while that in it's youth wing's accounts had
come from membership fees. He said that accounts of its youth wing - Indian
Youth Congress - had also been frozen.
"We don't have any money to spend, to pay electricity
bills, to pay salaries to our employees," Mr Maken said and added that all
political activities of the party will be impacted.
He said that the action had been taken on account of a
45-day delay in filing income tax returns of the party for 2018-2019.
He added that the IT department has asked Congress to pay
2.1bn rupees ($25m; £20m) as a "recovery" amount.
Congress leader Vivek Tankha has said the court will hear
the party's appeal for interim relief from the IT department's action on
Wednesday.
Critics have accused Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) of using state machinery to target opposition leaders in the run-up to
the elections. Mr Modi and the BJP have denied the allegation.
