BJP MP Varun Gandhi's 'strong action from strong government' dig at Centre

Gandhi, who is an MP from UP’s Pilbhit, mentioned three economic offenders- Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Rishi Agarwal- with details of the fraud cases against them.

India expects a “strong action” from a “strong government” against corruption, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Varun Gandhi tweeted on Friday in a veiled attack on the government.

Varun Gandhi has criticised his party on many fronts including the handling of the (Covid-19) pandemic, unemployment, and the killings in UP’s Lakhimpur. (HT file photo)

Gandhi, who is an MP from UP’s Pilbhit, mentioned three economic offenders- Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Rishi Agarwal- with details of the fraud cases against them.

“Vijay Mallya: 9000 crores Nirav Modi: 14000 crores Rishi Agarwal: 23000 crores,” the 41-year-old leader, who is known for critcising his party, tweeted in Hindi.

He added that “when 14 people commit suicide in the country daily due to debt burden, a strong government is expected to act ‘on this super corrupt system’.” .

The BJP MP has criticised his party on many fronts including the handling of the (Covid-19) pandemic, unemployment, and the killings in UP’s Lakhimpur.

Diamantaire Nirav Modi is the prime accused in the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam. He left the country in 2018, shortly before the scam came out in public. He is currently lodged in a jail at Wandsworth Prison in South-west London after he was arrested by British police authorities in 2019.

Former liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who has been accused in a bank loan default case of over ₹9,000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines, also fled to the United Kingdom in 2016. Last week, the Supreme Court granted a last opportunity of two weeks to Mallya to - personally or through counsel - present his stand in the contempt case against him.

Meanwhile, Rishi Agarwal is the latest to join the list of India's economic offenders. Agarwal is the former chairman and managing director of ABG Shipyard, the flagship firm of the ABG Group, which has been accused of defaulting ₹22,842 crore loans that it owed to a total of 28 banks including the State Bank of India.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has questioned Rishi Agarwal and has filed an FIR in the case. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), meanwhile, registered a criminal case of money laundering against ABG Shipyard, its former promoters and others.

The opposition Congress has hit out at the BJP over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence on the ABG Shipyard scam- which is the biggest alleged bank loan fraud case in the country to date.

A strong fight against corruption has been one of the poll promises of the BJP, which the rivals have used to target the Centre.

The ruling party, however, hit back saying the fraud took place under the UPA rule.

(With agency inputs)