The BJP on Sunday hit back at the Congress over private firm ABG Shipyard allegedly cheating banks of over Rs 22,842 crore, saying that these loans were sanctioned when the UPA was in power whereas the Modi government has gone after the promoters behind such frauds.
BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Syed Zafar Islam said that for Congress to attack the government over the case is like a thief blaming cops for the crime.
Islam said all these loans were given prior to 2014 when the BJP came to power and added they had even turned non-performing assets (NPA) during the earlier dispensation.
Due process was followed all these years and the BJP government has identified the fraud, he said. "That is why we have taken this action," he added, referring to the CBI case in the matter.
"The Congress is brazening it out. It is its government that ran the 'phone banking' scam with its senior functionaries forcing banks to sanction loans after accepting commissions from these promoters. They are fully responsible for the fraud as they were hand in glove with all promoters. Our government has detected these frauds," the BJP leader said.
The Congress on Sunday accused the Modi government of complicity, collusion, and connivance in what it described as "India's biggest bank fraud" of Rs 22,842 crore by Gujarat-based ABG Shipyard.
The opposition party questioned why the government took five years after the liquidation proceedings of ABG Shipyard to lodge an FIR in connection with the alleged duping of 28 banks.
On February 7, the CBI booked ABG Shipyard Limited, its former chairman and managing director Rishi Kamlesh Agarwal and others for allegedly cheating a consortium of banks of over Rs 22,842 crore.
The BJP spokesperson said the government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been very clear that there will be no interference in the process of banks sanctioning loans.
Banks have been giving loans on the basis of the strength of companies, unlike in the past when they sanctioned loans at the behest of their political masters, he said.
The BJP government inherited the problem, recapitalised the banks, and focussed on recoveries.
Banks are now in a better position and have been making profits, he said.
The government also came up with law for speedier recovery of money from defaulter companies, he said, adding that this has helped in the recovery of over Rs 5 lakh crore.
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