Opposition will be united after LS poll: M Veerappa Moily
Hyderabad: Senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily said Tuesday opposition parties may not have come together to fight the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections in all states but would join hands post-poll to form government.
The former union minister said he was not at all disappointed that the opposition alliance to take on the BJP has not materialised in some states.
"...idea-wise, spirit-wise, they (opposition parties) are all united against (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi. Common agenda is: he (Modi) should go", Moily said and claimed the opposition would form government.
The Congress has strong presence in many states, where the party has no option but to fight other parties which are also opposed to the BJP, according to him.
He cited the political landscape in Kerala, where the Congress-led UDF and CPI-M-anchored LDF are in direct fight, as an example to drive home his point.
"In Kerala, it's UDF versus LDF, there is no BJP at all.
BJP's presence is totally negligible. There, we have to fight against each other. We cannot make alliance with LDF", Moily told PTI.
On the issue of opposition alliance, the former Karnataka Chief Minister argued that each and every State has to be "analysed" on its own merit and one can't generalise.
"There will be pre-poll alliance in some States, post-poll alliance in some other States. Such arragement is not opposed to the principle of opposition unity", he claimed.
"Common objective is to defeat BJP everywhere. There cannot be hard and fast rule in every State. It differs from State to State", Moily said.
Asked if the Left parties would join hands with the Congress after the elections, he said: "That will inevitably happen, when fighting against the BJP".
On the minimum income guarantee scheme announced by the Congress President Rahul Gandhi yesterday, Moily said it's a "great way forward" towards lifting the poor out of poverty.
Asked if this announcement would pay rich electoral dividends to the Congress in the polls, he said: "Definitely.
Manifesto is always taken by the people seriously. Since it's targetted at the poorest of the poor, they look forward with lot of expectations. It's not an election stunt".
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ED arrests Sandeepa Virk, 'cosmetologist' for alleged money laundering
New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate said on Wednesday it has arrested a woman, who claims to be an actor and a cosmetologist, under the anti-money laundering law in a case of alleged fraud and misrepresentation.
The agency said the purported links of the woman, Sandeepa Virk, with a Reliance Group executive, Angarai Natarajan Sethuraman (President, Corporate Affairs), are also under its scanner. Sethuraman, in a statement, denied any connection with Virk or any transactions related to her.
Virk was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Tuesday after searches were conducted against her and her associates in Delhi and Mumbai over the last two days.
A special court sent her to the ED's custody till August 14, the agency said. The woman claims to be the owner of a skin care products selling website named hyboocare.com, which the ED claimed was a "front" for money laundering.
She and her associates are being probed for allegedly exerting undue influence through "misrepresentation" and "defrauding" individuals by soliciting money under false pretences.
According to an Instagram ID of Virk, she is an actor and entrepreneur and the founder of the said website.
The federal agency said in a statement that the woman was also "in touch with" Sethuraman, former director of erstwhile Reliance Capital Limited.
She was communicating with him regarding "illegal liaisoning", the ED claimed, adding that the searches at Sethuraman's residence "confirmed" these allegations.
"Besides, diversion of funds for personal benefit has also been unearthed during the course of the search action," it said.
The ED alleged that public money worth about Rs 18 crore belonging to Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL) was disbursed to Sethuraman in 2018 by "flouting" prudent lending norms.
The funds were lent under terms that allowed a deferment of the principal amount as well as the interest, with multiple waivers granted and no due diligence conducted, it said.
The ED claimed that besides this, a home loan of Rs 22 crore was provided by Reliance Capital Limited by "violating" the prudential norms. "A large part of these loans are seen to have been eventually siphoned off and remained unpaid," it alleged.
Sethuraman, in a statement, dismissed the allegations as "baseless". He denied any connection with Virk or any transactions related to her.
Detailing about Virk's web portal, the agency said it purportedly sold FDA-approved beauty products. However, the ED said the products listed on the website have been found to be non-existent and the portal lacks a user registration option and is plagued by persistent payment gateway issues.
A scrutiny of the website uncovered minimal social-media engagement, an inactive WhatsApp contact number and an absence of transparent organisational details, all of which reinforce the finding of "non-genuine" commercial activity, the ED claimed.
"These factors, including limited product range, inflated pricing, false claims of FDA approval and technical inconsistencies, indicate that the website serves as a front for laundering funds," it said.
Another social media-hosted bio data of the woman said she is a certified cosmetologist.
The ED said several "incriminating" documents were seized during the searches and the statement of a man named Farrukh Ali, stated to be an associate of Virk, was recorded.
The money-laundering case stems from an FIR lodged by the Punjab Police.
Sethuraman said that the home loan he received from Reliance Capital was granted following due process and was secured by the property offered as collateral.
