The Congress party is in a tough spot as it gets ready for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. They recently got a shock from the Income-Tax department: a demand for a whopping Rs 1,823 crore for five years, from 1994-95 to 2020-21. Leaders like Ajay Maken talked about this, calling it “tax terrorism” by the BJP.
Maken also accused the BJP of breaking tax laws and said the Congress wants Rs 4,600 crore from them. He mentioned that the BJP didn’t share important details about its donors, which adds up to about Rs 42 crore. The Congress plans to fight back in the Supreme Court against these tax demands.
Congress president, Mallikarjun Kharge, thinks it’s not fair to use government powers to target the opposition. He’s questioning if everyone is getting treated the same by the tax department. Other parties like Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) are facing similar tax problems.
TMC’s Saket Gokhale said he got 11 notices in just 72 hours. CPI is dealing with a demand for Rs 11 crore in taxes. Despite all this, Congress says they trust India’s legal system and want to sort things out on their own.
They believe that issues should be sorted out within the country and without outside help. This fight against what they see as unfair tax practices shows how tense things are before the elections.
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