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Congress to take PNB fraud issue to people; rope in other parties

Last Updated 17 February 2018, 18:20 IST

With the PNB banking scam gaining traction, Congress on Saturday decided to put all its might to "expose" the NDA government's "complicity" in the fraud and also rope in other like-minded parties to corner Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament.

Leading from the front, Congress President Rahul Gandhi said a scam of this magnitude cannot be done without "high-level protection". The Congress is also planning a nation-wide campaign to step up pressure on the government.

"The question is Nirav Modi has taken away Rs 22,000 crore. Prime Minister Modi has to explain why did it happen and what he is going to do about it," Rahul told reporters after a meeting of the Congress Steering Committee which deliberated on the issue.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh voiced great concern over the failure of the banking system to detect the scam, while former Finance Minister P Chidambaram briefed the meeting on how the issue threatened to destabilise the banking sector and derail the economy.

Rahul sought to link the scam to the prime minister's decision to  demonetise high-value currency in November 2016.

"He took out all the money from people's pockets and put it in the banking system...and now his friends and cronies are stealing it from the banking sector and the Prime Minister is not saying anything," Rahul said.

He also rejected BJP's allegations that the scam took root during the UPA regime.

"No it didn't. The bulk of it started in May, 2015. The first complaint was in May, 2015. And the bulk 90% of the transactions are under this government. This government constantly refuses to accept responsibility," Rahul said claiming that the Modi government was aware of the scam taking place.

Questioning Prime Minister's silence on the issue Rahul said instead of spending an hour and a half on explaining to little kids how to take exams, Modi should tell the nation the steps he is taking to get Nirav Modi back and ensure safety of the banking system.

A statement by the Congress Steering Committee asked the Prime Minister to apprise the nation of complete facts about the biggest 'bank scam' instead of remaining silent "as usual".

"The Prime Minister must also tell the nation how a fraud of this magnitude escaped the eyes of all the auditors and investigators conducting 'statutory audit', 'internal audit', 'concurrent audit' and even the RBI's own audit," it said.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Congress' chief spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala said senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Ghulam Nabi Azad have been tasked by the party to speak to all like-minded parties on the issue and show them documentary evidence of the scam.

"We will raise this issue vociferously and prominently till the Modi government answers to Parliament and the country's people," Surjewala said.

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(Published 17 February 2018, 16:08 IST)

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