NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has asserted that there is no democracy in India today, saying the idea that India is a democracy is a lie.
Rahul Gandhi addressing a press conference in New Delhi said by blocking the accounts of the largest opposition party, Congress, the BJP had caused great damage to Indian democracy.
“This is a criminal action on the Congress party, a criminal action done by the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. So, the idea that India is a democracy is a lie. There is no democracy in India today. The idea that India is the world’s largest democracy is a lie. A complete lie,” he said.
“20 per cent of India votes for us and we are not able to pay Rs 2 for anything. It has been orchestrated to cripple us in the elections. Even if our bank accounts are unfrozen today, huge amount of debt damage has been done to Indian democracy,” he added.
Rahul Gandhi claimed that all Congress’ bank accounts have been frozen, the party can do no campaign work, cannot support party workers and cannot support party candidates.
“This is not freezing of Congress party’s bank accounts; this is the freezing of Indian democracy. As the biggest opposition party, we are unable to take any action – we can’t book advertisements or send our leaders anywhere. This is an assault on democracy,” he maintained.
Meanwhile, former party president Sonia Gandhi on the occasion demanded that the party be given access to its bank accounts to ensure a level playing field in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls.
Sonia Gandhi said money from the Congress’ accounts was being taken away forcefully. “Systematic effort is underway by prime minister to cripple the Congress financially,” she said, hitting out at the Modi government.
“Even under these challenges we are doing our best to maintain effectiveness of our campaign,” she told reporters.
