Congress under financial stress, candidates asked to seek monetary help from people: Prithviraj Sathe

Guwahati: Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Sathe on Saturday said it has asked candidates to seek monetary help while approaching them for votes, and accused the BJP of indulging in “tax terrorism” in the wake of the grand old party receiving fresh notices from the Income Tax (I-T) department.

Sathe was participating in a protest demonstration here against the latest I-T notices, asking the Congress to pay around Rs 1,823 crore.

“We have been saying that democracy is in danger in India and it is turning into a reality now. Another example of this is the tax terrorism by the BJP. Congress is fined by the I-T department, but the BJP is exempted,” Sathe, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary, alleged.

The Congress had on Friday accused the BJP of 'serious violations' of income-tax laws for which it should be penalised to the tune of Rs 4,600 crore.

Sathe maintained that the Congress was facing serious financial problems due to the action “at the behest of the ruling party”.

“We have asked our candidates to approach the public for votes and monetary help, and explain to them why such a situation emerged and how the BJP is destroying democracy,” he asserted.

Sathe also claimed that the BJP was stifling democracy by not allowing the opposition to protest on the streets.

“Protests always take place on the streets. But, we are not even allowed to do that. We had to stage protests inside the party office here,” he added.