Won't be intimidated by ‘tax terrorism,’ Siddaramaiah says after Congress slapped with I-T notice

In response to the Income Tax Department's fresh notice to the Congress for payment of Rs 1,823 crore, Siddaramaiah accused the BJP of resorting to intimidation tactics out of fear of losing the Lok Sabha elections.

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah rebuked the BJP on Saturday, asserting that the party's attempt to instil fear through "tax terrorism" would not intimidate the Congress.

In response to the Income Tax Department's fresh notice to the party for payment of Rs 1,823 crore, Siddaramaiah accused the BJP of resorting to intimidation tactics out of fear of losing the Lok Sabha elections.

"The Bharatiya Janata Party, fearful of impending defeat in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, has been misusing autonomous institutions like the I-T Department, ED, and CBI to undermine the Congress Party."

"As part of this tactic, they have unleashed ‘tax terrorism’ on our party. The BJP is under the illusion that by weakening our party, it can win the election," Siddaramaiah said in a statement.

Quoting Congress leaders, the chief minister said that between 2017 and 2018, the BJP obtained contributions from 92 undisclosed donors and from 1,297 donors lacking address details.

"Should the same criteria (of raising tax demand) be applied to the BJP, it would be liable to pay Rs 4,263 crore for tax discrepancies over the last seven years," Siddaramaiah said.

He charged that the Income Tax Department has become "hyperactive", using ‘tax terrorism’ as a tool against opposition parties including the TMC and CPI, as the election approaches.

"However, the same IT Department, which aggressively targets opposition parties, mysteriously turns a blind eye to the BJP's tax violations. The public is not so ignorant as to not question who is blindfolding the I-T Department," the chief minister stated.

"The IT Department, which levies accusations of tax violations against certain Congress leaders citing supposed diary entries, overlooks the Yediyurappa diaries exposed in Karnataka, as well as the 'Birla-Sahara' diary that suggests Narendra Modi was a beneficiary. Why have these not caught the department's attention?" Siddaramaiah asked.

He alleged that the ruling BJP has misappropriated thousands of crores through electoral bonds, misusing institutions such as the I-T, ED, and CBI.

"However, now, in order to divert the people’s attention from this huge scam, the BJP government is making false accusations of income tax evasion with the malicious intention of portraying the opposition parties as guilty," the chief minister charged.

"In the past five years, the BJP government has written off around Rs 10.09 lakh crore of bank loans of fraudsters like Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi. The public deserves to know how many kickbacks the BJP received from these individuals," Siddaramaiah charged.

"Seeing Prime Minister Narendra Modi boast of winning 400 seats while engaging in such illegal activities to crush the opposition reveals that he has clearly seen the writing on the wall," Siddaramaiah said.

The Congress on Friday said it has received fresh notices from the income-tax department, asking it to pay Rs 1,823.08 crore, and accused the ruling BJP of indulging in "tax terrorism" to financially cripple the opposition party ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.