New Delhi: The BJP on Monday labeled liquor baron Vijay Mallya ‘Congress’ baby’ after the grand old party asked the Centre if it would seek the industrialist’s deportation or put his case in ‘cold storage’.
Vijay Mallya, who is facing legal proceedings for alleged loan defaults by his group to the tune of over Rs 9,000 crore is currently in Britain and has indicated that he would not return to India in the near future.
BJP accused the previous UPA dispensation of helping Mallya by forcing a bank to provide a loan of Rs 3,100 crore despite his company's poor finances.
"Mallya is a Congress baby. When his company (Kingfisher Airlines) was on the verge of closure, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said such private companies should be helped. The government pushed banks to give him a package of Rs 3,100 crore," BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said.
The leading party said that Congress should come clean on its "deals" with Mallya instead of targeting the BJP.
While around 25 cases have been initiated against Mallya under the Modi-led government, his frozen bank accounts were opened under the then UPA government and he was given loans, BJP said.
"What was the compulsion of Congress that it helped Mallya time and again? It should first make that clear instead of trying to mislead the nation by blaming Modi government. Why did you open his frozen accounts? Why did State Bank of India give him loan of Rs 3,100 crore despite his poor finances?" BJP asked.
Defending the NDA government over Mallya's departure for London, Sharma said there was no court order against his travel abroad when he left on March 3.
Congress on Monday asked the government whether it will seek Mallya's deportation from the UK or would put his case in "cold storage" by going in for his extradition as, it claimed, was done in the matter related to Lalit Modi.
Sharma added that former IPL boss Lalit Modi, like Mallya, was also a "product" of Congress.
