Government hid wilful defaulters in Parliament, alleges Rahul

New Delhi: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has alleged that the government hid the names of top 50 wilful defaulters in Parliament. He said that on March 16 he had asked the Finance Minister in the Lok Sabha for the list but was denied by the government.

Rahul Gandhi in a tweet said: "In Parliament I asked a straight question that who are the top 50 bank thieves, the finance minister refused to answer, and now the RBI has given the list of Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, all BJP friends. That is why the truth was hidden in Parliament."

The Congress Chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala earlier alleged that, "Helping fugitives and waiving off their loans has become the main agenda of the BJP. On March 16, 2020, Rahul Gandhi asked Modi govt in Parliament, names of 50 top bank scamsters in India. The Govt and the FM kept mum and refused to disclose any names."

"Modi govt's financial mismanagement has caused the NPA crisis to balloon out of proportion. This is what happens when an economy, primed to be one of the largest in the world, is run by an 'Entire Political Scientist'. Tax payer money is being used to bailout the Govt's rich friends. How long will the govt continue the charade of working for the poor and the middle class?, said the party.

Rahul Gandhi's attack came after the Congress seized a response by RBI to a Right To Information (RTI) application filed by activist Saket Gokhale in which the central bank listed the top 50 wilful defaulters accused of defrauding Indian banks and loans taken out by them that have been written off.

The Congress alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government had "waived" Rs 68,607 crore in loans by the 50 defaulters, including fugitive business tycoons Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya.The Congress also alleged that the government waived loans worth Rs 6.66 lakh crore since 2014 till September 2019.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala released the list of the top loan defaulters in the country, as per the RTI reply, and demanded answers from the prime minister on why their loans were waived.

"This is a classic case of promoting ''dupe, deceive and depart'' policy of the Modi government, which can no longer be accepted and the prime minister has to answer," he told reporters through video conference.

Surjewala also said "this reflects the misconceived priorities and dishonest intentions of the Modi government".

The Indian banking system is reeling under over 10 lakh crore in bad debt, according to news agency Reuters, that has been brought into sharp focus after a number of incidents of billionaires fleeing the country to escape prosecution in recent years and disastrous financial crises at high-profile institutions.

While the opposition has questioned the proximity of the BJP to the rogue businesses and their owners, the government has blamed most of the scandals on the Congress that was in power before 2014, saying it had only helped uncover the scams.