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‘Just 3 simple questions’: Congress defends Priyanka Gandhi over painting sold to Yes Bank’s Rana Kapoor
The counterclaim by the Congress came after the Bharatiya Janata Party’s information and technology wing in-charge Amit Malviya put out a tweet taking potshots at the Gandhi family.
Congress on Monday defended allegations by the BJP over a painting party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had sold to beleaguered Yes Bank’s founder Rana Kapoor by pointing to what it said was the government’s “conspiratorial diversionary tactic”.
The counterclaim by the Congress came after the Bharatiya Janata Party’s information and technology wing in-charge Amit Malviya put out a tweet taking potshots at the Gandhi family.
“Every financial crime in India has deep link with the Gandhis. [Vijay] Mallya used to send flight upgrade tickets to Sonia Gandhi. Had access to MMS [Manmohan Singh] and PC [P Chidambaram]. Is absconding. Rahul inaugurated Nirav Modi’s bridal jewellery collection, he defaulted. Rana [Kapoor] bought Priyanka Vadra’s paintings...” Malviya had tweeted.
Enforcement Directorate (ED) later seized the painting of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, which was bought by Rana Kapoor from Priyanka Gandhi. The painting has been brought to ED office.
Also read: As Yes Bank faced crisis, founder Rana Kapoor hosted lavish parties, says report
Randeep Surjewala, Congress’ spokesperson, hit out with three questions before he said neither the Prime Minister nor the finance minister has said anything about the Yes Bank crisis.
“Modiji, there are only three questions. How did Yes Bank collapse? Who is responsible for Yes Bank’s collapse? What was the Modi government doing—was it sleeping or was it in a partnership to make it collapse?” Surjewala asked.
He said the question isn’t that Priyanka Gandhi had sold a painting by MF Husain, which she received as an inheritance from her father Rajiv Gandhi, to Yes Bank’s Rana Kapoor for Rs 2 crore 10 years ago and disclosed the entire amount in her income tax return of 2010.
“The question is that how did the loan book of Yes Bank, the loan it gave out, rose from Rs 55,000 crore to Rs 2,42,000 crore from March 2014 to March 2019? Why did the loan book rise by 100% in two years after demonetisation ie from Rs 98,210 crore in March 2016 to Rs 2,03,534 crore in March 2018?” he asked.
“The question is how did the bogus loans given by Yes Bank rose to 334% in five years of Modiji’s government. The question is what is the relationship between Modiji and the BJP with the owners of Yes Bank?”
The Congress leader also said the Prime Minister had even addressed a conference sponsored by Yes Bank three days before the bank was declared crisis-ridden on March 6.
Also read: ED arrests Rana Kapoor, CBI files corruption case
Rana Kapoor was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in Mumbai on Sunday after charges of alleged financial irregularities and mismanagement in the bank’s operations surfaced.
In mounting trouble for the 62-year-old private banker, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), too, was probing Kapoor and his family for alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating and corruption.
The Reserve Bank of India took control of Yes Bank last Thursday and said it would work on a revival plan. Two days later, the State Bank of India (SBI) said it would invest funds to buy a 49% stake in Yes Bank as part of the initial phase of a rescue deal for the troubled lender.
