Nirmala Sitharaman Accuses Rahul Gandhi, Congress of Misleading Country Over Bad Loans And List of Wilful Defaulters

New Delhi, April 28: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday accused Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Randeep Singh Surjewala of misleading the country over Reserve Bank of India's response to an RTI query that outstanding loans amounting to Rs 68,607 crore of top 50 wilful bank loan defaulters have been technically written off till September 30, 2019. In a series of tweet, Nirmala Sitharaman said the government will continue to pursue recovery.

"Shri @RahulGandhi MP (LS) and Shri @rssurjewala spokesperson of @INCIndia have attempted to mislead people in a brazen manner. Typical to @INCIndia, they resort to sensationalising facts by taking them out of context. In the following tweets wish to respond to the issues raised (sic)," Sitharaman said, adding that Rahul Gandhi should have consulted former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on what this writing-off was about. PM Has Money for Loan Defaulters, Not for Farmers: Sitaram Yechury.

Nirmala Sitharaman's Tweets:

"Provisions are made for NPAs as per the four-year provisioning cycle laid down by the @RBI. Upon full provisioning being done banks write-off the fully provided NPA but continue to pursue recovery against the borrower. No loan is waived off," Sitharaman clarified. She alleged these wilful defaulters were benefitted from "UPA's phone banking". Quoting former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, Sitharaman said a large number of bad loans originated during the Congress's rule.

"It is @PMO @narendramodi government which is pursuing these wilful defaulters.9967 recovery suits, 3515 FIRs, invoking Fugitive Amendment Act in cases are on now. Total value of attachment & seizures in the cases of Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya: Rs 18332.7 Crore (sic)," Sitharaman said. She also said the Modi government has provided a list of wilful defaulters with Lok Sabha in November last year.

Nirmala Sitharaman's Clarification Over Bad Loans, Wilful Defaulters:

This was in response to Rahul Gandhi's allegation that the government hid the names of top 50 wilful defaulters in Parliament. "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," he tweeted.

Rahul Gandhi's Allegation:

Reiterating Rahul Gandhi's charges, the Congress tweeted: "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'. Taxpayer 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?"

Responding to the allegations, Sitharaman said: "@INCIndia and Shri.@RahulGandhi should introspect why they fail to play a constructive role in cleaning up the system. Neither while in power, nor while in the opposition has the @INCIndia shown any commitment or inclination to stop corruption & cronyism (sic)."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 29, 2020 12:01 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).