Today in Politics: Hit by Rs 1,823 cr I-T notices, Cong set to hold nationwide protests against ‘tax terrorism’

With the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections less than three weeks away, the poll fray has already been heating up. A day after the Congress revealed that it has received fresh notices from the Income-Tax Department for five years (1994-95 and 2017-18 to 2020-21) asking it to pay over Rs 1,823 crore, the party is set to launch nationwide protests Saturday against what it called the Narendra Modi-led BJP government’s alleged “egregious attack” on democracy and unleashing of “tax terrorism” against the Opposition on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections.

The All India Congress Committee (AICC)’s general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal has asked all Pradesh Congress Committees (PCCs) to hold massive public demonstrations at the state and district headquarters in their respective states on Saturday and Sunday, involving senior leaders and party functionaries.

“An illegal attempt to freeze the bank accounts of the principal national Opposition party the Indian National Congress in February has gone on for over a month on the eve of the national general election. Yesterday, we received fresh notices from the I-T Department to pay Rs 1,823.08 crores. Already the I-T Department has forcibly taken away Rs 135 crores from our bank account,” the AICC general secretary (organisation) said in a letter to all state party chiefs and other top leaders across the country.

Venugopal said that eight years of income tax returns of the Congress have been reopened on “baseless, manufactured grounds” and called the action a “blatant attack” on democracy.

The new I-T notices were issued to the Congress at a time when the parties are getting their campaigns underway.

Hitting back, the Congress also alleged that the BJP was in “serious