Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken "criminal action" against the grand old party. Saying that Congress's frozen bank accounts signify the "freezing democracy" of the country, Gandhi said, "We (Congress) represent 20 per cent of the vote by the Indian population and today we can't afford railway tickets". 

Lashing out at institutions, Gandhi said, "This is a criminal action on the Congress party, a criminal action done by the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. So, the idea that India is a democracy is a lie. There is no democracy in India today."

"The idea that India is the world's largest democracy is a lie. A complete lie. 20% of India votes for us and we are not able to pay Rs 2 for anything. It has been orchestrated to cripple us in the elections. Even if our bank accounts are unfrozen today, a huge amount of debt damage has been done to Indian democracy," the Congress leader said. 

Gandhi further said, "As the biggest opposition party, we are unable to take any action - we can't book advertisements or send our leaders anywhere. This is an assault on democracy."

"All our bank accounts have been frozen. We can do no campaign work, we cannot support our workers, we cannot support our candidates. This has been done two months before the election campaign. One notice comes from the 90s, another from 6-7 years ago. Quantum amount Rs 14 Lakhs and punishment - our entire financial identity," Gandhi said.

Lashing out at institutions, Gandhi said, "EC has not even said anything...Already, our ability to fight elections has been damaged, we have already lost a month.