Indian National Congress (INC) treasurer Ajay Maken on Friday lashed out at the Central government on the latest crackdown of the Income Tax (IT) Department. As per Congress leader & treasurer Ajay Maken, India's IT Department has frozen the party's 4 main bank accounts on 'flimsy grounds'. Maken further asserted that the grand old party doesn't have money to pay bills or salaries. As per the Congress party, the accounts were frozen on an Income Tax demand of Rs 210 crore for 2018-19, an election year. Maken said the party has already appealed to the Income Tax appellate authority. After Maken revealed that the grand old party is facing cash crunch, netizens started to wonder whether Congress is facing bankruptcy or Congress bankruptcy on the cards or not. Below is what Ajay Maken said on lack of funds-
"We got information yesterday that banks are not honouring the cheque we are issuing. On further investigation, we got to know that the Youth Congress bank accounts have been frozen. The accounts of the Congress party have also been seized. Income tax asked for Rs 210 crore recovery from Youth Congress and Congress party. The crowdfunding money in our accounts has been frozen. Just 2 weeks before elections when the opposition's accounts are frozen, it is equivalent to freezing the democracy," said Ajay Maken.
Maken further said, "Right now we don't have any money to spend, to pay electricity bills, to pay salaries to our employees. Everything will be impacted, not only Nyay Yatra but all political activities will be impacted..."
Congress' multiple steps to raise funds
Notably, the Indian National Congress party has taken multiple steps to raise funds from both crowdfunding and donations from its own party leaders. For instance, in January 2024, Congress launched its 'Donate for Nyay' crowdfunding campaign as part of the ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.Under the campaign, people will get a Rahul Gandhi-signed letter or merchandise in return for their donation. To be precise, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, Congress treasurer Ajay Maken said that under the campaign, any person who donates Rs 670 or more will get a T-shirt signed by Rahul Gandhi as a gift.
Also, Congress launched a crowdfunding campaign 'Donate for Desh' and reportedly collected Rs 1.45 crores in a single day with Maharashtra leading the top five donor states list. As part of the donation, Congress President Kharge donated a sum of Rs 1,38,000 from his salary to launch the campaign in the presence of party leaders and general secretaries K C Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh and treasurer Ajay Maken.