Accusing HDFC of blocking his account, TMC MP asks if it is a new tactic to silence opposition MPs

New Delhi, August 28

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Saket Gokhale on Wednesday complained that HDFC Bank recently blocked his account on the grounds that he was facing a probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

"Got a call from @HDFCBank_Cares saying my account has suddenly been blocked,” Gokhale wrote on X, adding that when he demanded to know the reason, HDFC answered that there was a news report about an ED case against him.

"I said the case is 2 years old. What does it have to do with my account?  HDFC says 'we saw the article & blocked the account since it says ED'.”

When Gokhale asked the bank official if there was an order to block his account, he was told there was no order but since ED was involved, the bank decided to block the account.

"This is the level of terrorism unleashed by the ED under Modi. Accounts of Opposition get frozen illegally only because there’s a 'news article' about a 2 year old case," Gokhale wrote.

"Is randomly blocking bank accounts of the Opposition based on “news articles” the new way of silencing us,” he asked.