Freezing Congress Accounts Violation of Model Code: Sachin Pilot

Freezing Congress's bank accounts at the time of elections is a violation of the model code of conduct and unconstitutional, and the poll panel should prevent such a move to save democracy, party leader Sachin Pilot said on Thursday.

Talking to reporters at the Swami Vivekananda Airport in Raipur, he said bank accounts of the BJP, and not the Congress, should be frozen as the ruling party has received "huge money" through electoral bonds "scam".

At a press conference in New Delhi, senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi alleged a systematic effort is underway by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cripple the party financially as the opposition outfit stepped up its demand for access to its bank accounts to ensure a level playing field in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.

Mr Pilot, the Congress in-charge for Chhattisgarh, arrived here on a two-day visit to the state in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

"It is well known how the Centre is treating the main opposition Congress. The acts of sealing Congress' bank accounts, seizing cash from them and deliberately not giving a level playing field to the Congress are all violations of the model code of conduct, morality and the Constitution," he said.

"I request the Election Commission of India to immediately take steps and prevent such acts. The biggest festival of democracy is elections. Amid elections, sealing bank accounts of the AICC, Youth Congress and NSUI, and acting with vendetta amounts to weakening democracy," maintained the former Rajasthan deputy CM.

The entire country is watching how the Centre has been trying to weaken the Congress, especially during elections, said Mr Pilot.

The Congress leader accused the BJP-led Centre of being "egoistic" and indulging in aggressive politics and warned if such acts continue then elections would no longer be independent and fair.

"It is the responsibility of the EC, which is an independent constitutional body, to prevent such acts," said the former Union minister.

On a question on electoral bonds, Mr Pilot said, "The Supreme Court has declared electoral bonds as unconstitutional. A scam worth thousands of crores of rupees has happened through it. Rahul ji (Congress MP Rahul Gandhi) has said it had become an extortion mechanism. For the first time in the world, such a kind of scam was witnessed wherein government institutions like CBI, ED, IT were used." Mr Pilot said Congress candidates for the remaining five Lok Sabha seats in Chhattsigarh will be declared soon.

A fortnight ago, the opposition party named six candidates, including former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel (Rajnandgaon), in Chhattisgarh, which has 11 Lok Sabha seats.

Chhattisgarh will vote in three phases on April 19, April 26 and May 7.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)