Congress slams Modi regime over Rs 70,000 cr bank scams, IDBI sale
New Delhi, June 25: Congress on Monday launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government for leading India into "financial anarchy" with its "utter economic mismanagement" that has led to bank scams over Rs 70,000 crore, and now forcing LIC to buy the sinking IDBI Bank to "hide its failures".
"Post the numerous bank loot scams that have plunged the banking sector in deep crises, one more mega scam worth Rs 6,978 crore has been uncovered taking the total value of 13 bank loot scams to Rs 70,014 crore," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.
He alleged that the Faridabad-based SRS Group, a diversified company, engaged in criminal conspiracy, cheating and frauds of Rs 6,978.72 crore reportedly using hundreds of shell companies defrauding 17 banks. It also laundered money and duped thousands of home buyers.
Citing Indian banks' Q4 losses for 2017-18 that touched an "astronomical" Rs 90,000 crore, Surjewala said Modi government's financial anarchy continues unabated as the NPAs which were Rs 2,63,000 crore in fiscal 2013-14 is now hovering around Rs 10,30,000 crore.
IDBI Bank is the worst performing public sector bank whose Q4 losses have swollen to Rs 5,663 crore and gross NPA has risen to a whopping Rs 55,588.26 crore, he said and added the bank has a bad loan ratio of close to 28 per cent.
"Utter economic mismanagement of Modi government and its Finance Ministry is writ large. To cover up its mess, it is now jeopardizing the hard-earned money of 38 crore LIC policy holders by forcing it to purchase the rapidly sinking IDBI Bank.
"It's a classic case of selling family silver of 38 crore LIC policy holders to hide the economic mayhem of failed 'Modinomics-Jaitleynomics'," he said.
Surjewala said the the Prime Minister's Office, Finance Ministry, the Reserve Bank of India, the Central Vigilance Commission, the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the Serious Fraud Investigation office, the Enforcement Directorate, the Corporate Affairs Ministry/the Registrar of Companies and the BJP government in Haryana are completely silent even after a series of complaints filed against the SRS Group as early as August 2017.
Thousands of people have been duped in the name of public deposits received by SRS Ltd, one of the SRS Group companies, he said, claiming that repayments of about Rs 90 crore have been denied despite various order from National Company Law Tribunal.
Surjewala said thousands of people have also been duped in the name of booking flats, homes, plots, floors and other deposits, with as much as 80 per cent advance as payments, but no delivery of the said land or flat allotments was done to the investors in these projects.
"In one of the glaring examples, the bank has served notices to 1,200 flat owners in SRS Royal Hills, Sector 87, Faridabad to vacate the flats to recover the loan," he said, adding that the residents had been staying for years without even a registry.
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Bypolls: K'taka Cong Minority Abdul Jabbar chief resigns amid allegations of 'internal conspiracy'
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Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Congress Minority Department President K Abdul Jabbar announced his resignation from the post on Saturday, a day after a group of Muslim leaders accused members of their own party of "conspiring" to defeat the official candidate in Davanagere South.
Jabbar, an MLC, was an aspirant for the Congress ticket from the Davanagere South Assembly segment.
"It has been an honor for me to serve as Chairman of the KPCC Minority department and have worked to the best of my ability during assembly elections 2023 and followed by Parliament polls and many such occasions whenever the party needed the minority department and showed results. I have toured the entire state of Karnataka and worked to align the minorities with Congress values and principles. Most of it is available in the public domain," Jabbar has said in a letter to the party.
"Minority voters and minority office bearers are the backbone of our great Congress party and certainly deserve better," he said.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President, confirmed Jabbar's resignation.
"I won't speak about this now, I have got some reports. The Minority President has submitted his resignation. I will verify things, I will seek a report from local leaders after that I will speak," he told reporters in response to a question on internal conspiracy.
A rift within the Karnataka Congress surfaced on Friday, a day after the bypolls to two Assembly constituencies in the state, as a group of Muslim leaders alleged a "conspiracy" by some of their own senior party leaders to defeat the official candidate in Davanagere South.
However, they asserted that despite efforts by some within to project that Congress "betrayed" Muslims, the party candidate Samarth Mallikarjun will win in Davanagere South, the constituency where the community has a significant presence.
They said the party finally named Samarth Mallikarjun as the candidate after considering all factors and taking all Muslim leaders into confidence. Despite this, a massive campaign, including from some within the party, projected the Congress as having "betrayed" the minorities by denying them tickets.
Chief Whip in the Legislative Council Saleem Ahmed, MLAs Rizwan Arshad, Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan, MLC Bilkis Bano, and other Congress leaders addressed a joint press conference on Friday, claiming an "internal conspiracy".
According to party sources, these Muslim leaders have also complained to AICC and state party leadership, alleging "internal sabotage" in Davanagere South.
Though the leaders did not name anyone, several party sources said their attack was directed at State Housing Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan and Jabbar among others.
Khan, who had openly demanded the Davanagere South ticket for a Muslim candidate, initially stayed away from campaigning in the constituency, citing his Kerala poll responsibilities.
However, he addressed a press meet with Samarth's father and Minister SS Mallikarjun at the request of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Jabbar too had not actively participated in the campaigning, despite hailing from Davanagere.
Bypolls for Davanagere South were held along with Bagalkot on Thursday. The election was necessitated following the death of sitting MLAs Shamanur Shivashankarappa and H Y Meti respectively. Samarth is the grandson of Shivashankarappa.
Muslim disgruntlement appears to be a concern for the Congress in Davanagere South. With 14 of the 25 candidates in the fray belonging to the community, there are apprehensions within the party about a split in votes, which could benefit the BJP.
Given its significant presence in the constituency, the Muslim community strongly demanded the Congress ticket for Davanagere South. Some party factions had opposed giving the ticket to the Shamanur family.
Although the Congress was successful in persuading rebel candidate Sadiq Pailwan to withdraw from the contest, he remained in the fray as the move came after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations.
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