BJP’s next salvo: Corner govt on foreign accounts

The BJP, the principal opposition party, will try to project the central government as “soft” on black money stashed away in foreign accounts for the latter’s alleged unwillingness to reveal the names of the reported offenders.

The BJP, the principal opposition party, will try to project the central government as “soft” on black money stashed away in foreign accounts for the latter’s alleged unwillingness to reveal the names of the reported offenders.

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This stance comes at a time when the central government is already in a tight squeeze because of the 2G spectrum scam as also the pressure on the lokpal bill from anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare.

The party wants to be made public the names of more than 700 Indians who allegedly have accounts in HSBC, Geneva, and the details relating to whom have been reportedly revealed by France.

The BJP is also gearing up for a frontal attack on the government’s stand that international obligations prevent it from making the names public.

A senior BJP leader said: “France bought the details of some 50,000 names stolen by a bank official. Of those, 700-odd are Indian. It has shared the details informally with our government, which rushed to offer an undertaking that these won’t be made public despite the fact that they don’t fall under the double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) as this is not income that accrued in France.”

BJP patriarch LK Advani is set to move an adjournment motion on black money in the just-started winter session of Parliament.

With unsubstantiated reports that three MPs also figure on the Geneva list, Advani had said all parliamentarians of the National Democratic Alliance, whose leader is the BJP, would declare to the presiding officer of their house (Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha) that they had no illegal accounts/assets abroad.

The idea behind is to morally compel the Congress, which leads the ruling formation, to either follow suit or be branded it as “soft” on black money. The government on its part says it is serious about bringing black money back.