Antigua agency's statement nails Modi government's lie: Congress
New Delhi, Aug 3 : The Congress on Friday said that "complicity and connivance" of the government in the escape of jeweller Mehul Choksi, an accused in the PNB fraud, has been "exposed" after the Antigua government came clear on granting citizenship to Choksi.
The party also demanded to know why Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not raised Choksi's citizenship during a meeting with his Antiguan counterpart Gaston Browne in April this year.
"A press statement by the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) of Antigua Barbuda reveals how the Ministry of External Affairs and agencies like SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India), Enforcement Directorate and CBI gave Choksi a clean chit," Congress Spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala said.
Choksi had applied for Antiguan citizenship and got it in November 2017. He left India on January 4 this year.
"A complaint dated May 7, 2015 was filed with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs by one Vaibhav Khuraniya and R.M. Green Solution Pvt Ltd. A copy was also sent to the Prime Minister's Office, ED and Serious Fraud Investigation Office. A similar complaint was filed to Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mumbai," Surjewala said.
"Another person named Digvijaysinh Jadeja lodged an FIR in Ahmedabad Economic Offences Wing, Gujarat, against Mehul Choksi and others for fleecing him. The matter went to Gujarat High Court, where the state government was a party. In a special criminal application, Jadeja filed an affidavit on July 20, 2016 specifically pointing out that Choksi and others owed Rs 9,872 crore to banks and are likely to escape from India," he added.
He said a complaint dated July 26, 2016 was filed by one Hariprasad to PMO. On May 3, 2017, one Vaibhav Khuraniya also emailed the complaint to SEBI.
"Why did the MEA provide clean chit to Choksi in May 2017 despite the complaints and evidence being available two years earlier, that is, May 7, 2015, July 20, 2016 and May 3, 2017," Surjewala asked.
"Why did the PMO not act despite the complaint dated May 7, 2015 and direct any investigating agency to take action? Does it not put a question mark on the role of the PMO?" he asked.
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Cong cites Kangana's purported remarks to accuse BJP of wanting to bring back repealed farm laws
New Delhi, Sep 24: The Congress on Tuesday cited BJP MP Kangana Ranaut's purported remarks on farm laws to allege that the ruling party was making efforts to bring back the three laws that were repealed in 2021, and asserted that Haryana will give a befitting reply to it.
The Congress shared on X an undated video of Ranaut in which she is purportedly saying in Hindi, "Farm laws that have been repealed should be brought back. I think this may get controversial. The laws in farmers' interest be brought back. Farmers should themselves demand this (to bring farm laws back) so that there is no hindrance to their prosperity.
"Farmers are a pillar of strength in India's progress. Only in some states, they had objected to farm laws. I appeal with folded hands that farm laws should be brought back in the interest of farmers."
In a post in Hindi along with the video, the Congress said, "The three black laws imposed on farmers should be brought back: BJP MP Kangana Ranaut has said this. More than 750 farmers of the country were martyred, only then did the Modi government wake up and these black laws were withdrawn."
Now BJP MPs are planning to bring back these laws, the Congress alleged.
"The Congress is with the farmers. These black laws will never return, no matter how hard Narendra Modi and his MPs try," the opposition party said on X.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate also shared the video of Ranaut on X and said, "'All three farm laws should be brought back': BJP MP Kangana Ranaut. More than 750 farmers were martyred while protesting against the three black farmer laws. Efforts are being made to bring them back."
"We will never let that happen. Haryana will answer first," she said in an apparent reference to the assembly polls in Haryana.
Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera also shared the video on X and said it was the BJP's "real thinking".
"How many times will you deceive the farmers, you two-faced people?" Khera said in a post in Hindi.
The three laws -- Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act -- were repealed in November 2021.
The farmers' protest started at the fag-end of November 2020 and ended after Parliament repealed the three laws. The legislations came into force in June 2020 and were repealed in November 2021.
“तीनों किसान क़ानून वापस लाये जाने चाहिए” : BJP MP कंगना रनौत
— Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) September 24, 2024
जिन तीन काले किसान विरोधी क़ानूनों की मुख़ालिफ़त करते 750 से ज़्यादा किसान शहीद हो गए
उनको दोबारा से लाने की कोशिश की जा रही है. हम ऐसा कभी नहीं होने देंगे
सबसे पहला जवाब हरियाणा देगा pic.twitter.com/kRAkRuE2cc
