In the political landscape of New Delhi, the venerable Congress party faced a moment of fiscal liberation as leader Vivek Tankha revealed that the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal had unfettered the financial reins of the grand old party. This revelation surfaced just sixty minutes subsequent to the Congress lamenting the freezing of its primary monetary reservoirs by the Income Tax (IT) authorities, an action casting a pall over the entirety of its political endeavors.

The esteemed Congress luminary, Vivek Tankha, who vehemently opposed the restraining order before the tribunal, asserted that the party had been accorded the privilege to recommence operations within its financial bastions. The tribunal, however, deferred a conclusive decision on the matter until the forthcoming Wednesday.

In his discourse before the tribunal, Tankha underscored the impediment the frozen accounts posed to the Congress’ participation in the imminent “festival of elections.” Earlier in the day, treasurer Ajay Maken decried the IT department’s action, contending that it was grounded on “flimsy grounds,” effectively impinging upon the political machinations of the party, a mere fortnight prior to the proclamation of general elections.

Maken elucidated that the freezing of accounts, encompassing those affiliated with the Indian Youth Congress, was precipitated by an IT requisition amounting to Rs 210 crore for the fiscal year 2018-19, a pivotal election year. The treasurer expounded that the party’s belated filing of its IT return for the relevant year was the catalyst for this stringent measure. The directive from IT authorities to immobilize the accounts materialized on the preceding Wednesday.

Initiating legal recourse in response to the financial impasse, Maken disclosed that the matter currently resides within the purview of the income tax appellate tribunal. Emphasizing the discretion exercised in delaying the disclosure of information, Maken affirmed that a press conference was withheld pending the outcome of the pending hearing.

Maken delineated that, contrary to initial reports of four frozen bank accounts, insider sources revised the count to a staggering nine. The financial incapacitation extended even to the funds amassed through the party’s crowdfunding initiative, leading Maken to assert that the very bedrock of democracy in the nation was under threat.

In an online missive, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge decried, “The Modi-Government, intoxicated with power, has constricted the fiscal arteries of the country’s foremost Opposition party – the Indian National Congress – in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.”