The corruption case against Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s kin has come in handy for the BJP in poll-bound Karnataka, where the Congress has charged Prime Minister Narendra Modi with aiding PNB scam accused Nirav Modi.
On Monday, when Rahul Gandhi blamed the PM, yet again, for diamantaire Nirav Modi’s alleged “loot” of the Punjab National Bank, BJP President Amit Shah hit out at the Congress over the alleged bank fraud case in which Amarinder Singh’s son-in-law has been booked.
Shah said it was “shameful” that the Punjab Chief Minister’s relative pocketed money meant for hardworking farmers, and questioned why the Congress deleted a tweet about a news report on the alleged bank fraud.
“Punjab CM’s son-in-law pockets money meant for India’s hardworking farmers. What can be more shameful than this ! #CongressLootsFarmers,” the BJP chief posted on Twitter.
“Why delete this tweet highlighting the loot of @capt_amarinder’s son-in-law. Congress has always been at the forefront of highlighting their own robberies such as the NPA mess, bad loans, the free hand they gave to Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi,” Shah tweeted.
The BJP chief also shared a news story about the alleged bank fraud at Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC).
On February 22, the CBI had registered a case against Simbhaoli Sugars Limited, its Chairman Gurmit Singh Mann, Deputy Managing Director Gurpal Singh and others, in connection with an alleged bank loan fraud of ₹97.85 crore at the bank.
Simbhaoli Sugars is one of the country’s largest sugar mills, and Gurpal Singh, the son-in-law of Amarinder.
In connection with the case, searches were carried out on Sunday at eight premises, including the residences of directors, factory, corporate office and registered office of the company in Delhi, Hapur and Noida.
Meanwhile, Shah also took on the Congress government in Karnataka, accusing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of being “synonymous with corruption”. “It is a 3D Government – Dhokha, Dadagiri and Dynastic Politics (a government standing for fraud, authoritarianism and dynastic politics). The Siddaramaiah government is establishing new milestones in corruption with each passing day and has been an utter failure on all fronts in the last five years. This is symptomatic of the Congress, failure to govern, and corruption.”
Responding to Rahul Gandhi accusations against BJP in the Nirav modi case, Shah said: “The ED has already taken action (filed a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act). Prior to it, the CBI had registered an FIR early this month.”
The ED had also conducted raids on the properties of Nirav and seized jewellery and some shares besides freezing his bank accounts, Shah said.