Freezing of Congress bank accounts an assault on democracy: Bhalla

Says BJP making ‘tall claims’ without knowing ground reality of J&K

Jammu, February 18, 2024:-JKPCC Working President Raman Bhalla on Sunday strongly condemned the freezing of bank accounts belonging to the Congress and the Youth Congress by the Income Tax department, just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Terming the move as an assault on democracy, Bhalla stated, “I think this is very unfortunate and a direct attempt to influence the elections in democracy. Elections are going to be announced any time in a week or two and freezing the bank account of the primary opposition party before that is completely illegal and undemocratic. “A pattern is visible, a design is visible that the Central Government is using each and every one of its agencies against the opposition,” he asserted. Bhalla speculated on the BJP’s motives, implying a nefarious plan to undermine democracy. “This conspiracy is not against opposition parties, it is a conspiracy against democracy, it is against elections.”Congress stands for ‘patriotism and sacrifice’, ‘service and dedication’ ‘loyalty and inspiration’ , for ‘prosperity and happiness’, ‘compassion and justice’ , ‘fearlessness and discipline’ and Congress stands for ‘Indianness’ . This was stated by JKPCC Working President Raman Bhalla while addressing huge gathering of people of RS Pura Jammu South constituency.

Speaking on the occasion, Bhalla said every Congress leader and worker is a symbol of this spirit. They have to go ahead and do more work. We must remember that the Indian National Congress not only liberated the country but also laid the foundation of a prosperous India. We have created such an India, which is the largest and strongest democracy in the world, added Bhalla.

Bhalla termed the “10 years of BJP regime as an era of great economic, social and political injustice in the country in which the rate of unemployment increased three times.” “During this period, the economic condition of the people remained at the lowest level. He alleged that there had been severe assault on the economic, social and democratic rights of the people and the constitutional institutions in the country in 10 years of BJP regime. “The record unemployment has frustrated the youth as the number of unemployed has increased to 4 crores in 2022 from one crore in 2012 and the unemployment rate is the highest in 45 years. The unprecedented price rise in petrol, diesel, LPG, CNG, flour, pulses, rice and other essential commodities, imposition of GST on them has reduced the domestic savings to the lowest of fifty years,” Bhalla further alleged.

Bhalla  called upon the party functionaries to maintain close rapport with the public and highlight the “various failures” of the BJP government. He asked the local leadership of districts, blocks, wards and observers to get ready for polls. Without taking any names, he said parties exploiting the sentiments of the people on various emotional issues for vote bank politics need to be isolated.“They have utterly failed to deliver on their commitments, causing unrest in different regions and sections of the society. The people must identify such political parties and reject them for being their worst enemies and responsible for the mistrust and unrest amongst the people,” he said. Bhalla asked the people of the Jammu region to join hands and defeat the “nefarious designs of communal, divisive and separatist forces”.

Bhalla said   property tax, toll plazas, smart electricity meters and unemployment have added to the misery of people of Jammu and Kashmir. He highlighted honorarium rates, delayed payments and inadequate facilities to Anganwadi Workers and Helpers. He emphasized the need for timely payments to meet their essential needs without undue financial strain. Bhalla said that Congress has launched campaign to apprise the people of the kind of hatred which is seen in society and the prevailing situation in J&K. We have presented certain facts against the government on issues such as farmer suicides, betrayal of the youth, and how their dreams were shattered by the central and the J&K governments,” he said.

Bhalla regretted that since the 2014, BJP-led Government at the Centre is brazenly ditching the helpless people in one way or another. “Instead of addressing their long pending just and genuine demands, the present Government has adopted a ‘callous approach’ on this human issue. Pointing out that democracy is in decline, he conveyed that the Congress party will stand for truth and continue to fight for the people. “BJP’s failure to deal with issues like unemployment, price rise and the overall prosperity and security of the country is clearly visible in the current situation of the common people. Their hardships are piling up as BJP continues to favour the rich and neglect the poor,” they said.  They further said that the Congress party is determined to expose the hypocrisy of the BJP Government.

Bhalla further said that electoral contests will continue to happen, but no matter how long it takes and how much struggle it takes, we are ready to fight unitedly. We got the same guidance from ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ as well. Increasing economic disparities, reckless privatization of public properties, rising unemployment and inflation are our biggest economic challenges. Farmers and farm laborers should be the priority of our economic policy. Green Revolution and White Revolution were made possible by the Congress governments.

 Today, we have many challenges before us, but there is no such challenge that Congress cannot manage. What is needed is – unity, discipline and determination. Our strength lies in the strength of the Party. The ideology of party should go to crores of our comrades at every level, district and village. That’s why I especially want to appeal to young friends that the future belongs to you. If the Congress is strong, then the future of this country will be prosperous. It is the biggest responsibility of all of us to take forward the atmosphere created by Rahul Ji, by treading the most difficult of paths.The biggest challenge is to save the Constitution and democracy created by Babasaheb Ambedkar, added Bhalla.