Rajasthan Congress workers protest against freezing party's bank accounts

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Rajasthan Congress workers on Monday protested across the state against the Income Tax Department's action to freeze bank accounts of the Congress and the Youth Congress.

In Jaipur, Congress leaders, office bearers and workers gathered at the party's War Room, from where they marched raising slogans against the central government, reported PTI. The police stopped the protestors near Statue Circle. Police had also barricaded the area ahead of the protest.

The protestors also tried to climb the barricades but were stopped by police. The party workers, including MLAs and former ministers, sat on a dharna on the road. Former ministers Shanti Dhariwal, Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, MLA Amin Kagzi, Rafeeq Khan, Prashant Sharma, Shikha Meel Barala, Abhimanyu Punia, state general secretary Jaswant Gurjar, R R Tiwari and Anil Chopra were present in the demonstration, PTI report added.

Congress MLA Rafeeq Khan said, "Democracy is in danger. Freezing the bank accounts of the Congress is an attempt to prevent the party from contesting elections. There is no valid reason behind freezing bank accounts."

Khachariyawas alleged that efforts are being made by the BJP to stop party leader Rahul Gandhi's visit to Rajasthan. "The BJP wants to eliminate the Congress. But the Congress is not going to end. The more conflict the BJP creates, the more Congress will emerge", he said, reported PTI.

Speaking to the media Congress' Rajasthan state president Govind Singh Dotasra alleged it is a model of the BJP to create fear and threaten by misusing the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department. He said that freezing the bank accounts of the Congress ahead of the model code of conduct and the Lok Sabha elections is a conspiracy to keep the main opposition party out of the election process.

Rahul Gandhi led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra will enter Rajasthan on February 25. The yatra is currently underway in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh. "The government is failing to provide employment to the youth and security of women in the country. Modi's agencies like the ED and CBI are puppets, which are being used to threaten opposition parties," Gandhi said on Monday.

(With PTI inputs)