Rahul Gandhi, family partially owned Kingfisher Airlines through proxy: BJP
New Delhi, Sep 13 : The BJP on Thursday alleged that the UPA government gave "sweet deals" to fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, while claiming that Congress President Rahul Gandhi's family "partially owned the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines through proxy".
"There are documents that show how the RBI and UPA under Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh had given sweet deals to Kingfisher Airlines," Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sambit Patra told the media.
"And it appears through these chain of documents that Kingfisher Airlines was owned not by Mallya but by the Gandhi family through proxy," he alleged showing the letters written by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to the State Bank of India (SBI) requesting for the restructuring of the loans of Kingfisher Airline
The accuracy of the documents could not be ascertained. There was no immediate response from Rahul Gandhi's office.
The BJP leader's remarks came a day after Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday demanded the resignation of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while referring to the statement of Mallya alleging that he met the BJP leader before leaving the country.
Patra also alleged that the party has enough evidence which shows that Rahul Gandhi was "using black money" and the Gandhi family was helping Mallya with sweet deals.
He said that Rahul Gandhi travelled free in Kingfisher Airlines, which was once owned by Mallya.
"Rahul Gandhi took one crore loan from a shell company, we have the confession of the company director Umashankar Gupta," Patra said. The BJP leader also demanded that the Congress President "clear the air over his family's relations" with Mallya.
Mallya, who left India on March 2, 2016, and is facing charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to around Rs 9,000 crore and fighting an extradition case, had told reporters in London that he met the finance minister before leaving India and offered to settle with the banks.
However, Jaitley rejected Mallya's claim as factually false.
"My attention has been drawn to a statement made to the media by Vijay Mallya on having met me with an offer of settlement. The statement is factually false in as much as it does not reflect truth," Jaitley had said in a Facebook post.
Earlier in the day, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters that all the allegations against Jaitley were "false".
"All these allegations are false. I want to question one thing, all these remarks are being made after Rahul Gandhi's London visit," Prasad said.
"Is there anything common between them (Mallya and Rahul Gandhi)?" the Law Minister asked. He also said that since 1947 till 2008 the banks in the country gave loans to the tune of Rs 18 lakh crore.
"And from 2008 to 2014 it increased to 52 lakh crore. So when Mallya got the maximum loan under which government you all know," Prasad added.
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CM Siddaramaiah alleges ‘criminal conspiracy’ in Sringeri recount, vows legal action
Bengaluru (PTI): Alleging a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP candidate D N Jeevaraj in the Sringeri Assembly poll recounting, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the outcome was manipulated after valid postal ballot votes in favour of Congress leader T D Raje Gowda were tampered with during the recounting process.
Following a Karnataka High Court order on an election petition filed by Jeevaraj, challenging Raje Gowda’s election, the reverification and recounting were conducted on Saturday.
After the reverification and recount of postal ballots for the Sringeri Assembly constituency, votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda were reduced by 255, the returning officer said.
A report on the matter has been submitted to the Election Commission of India for further action, the officer added.
Congress leader Raje Gowda had won the 2023 Assembly polls from Sringeri by 201 votes, defeating his nearest rival Jeevaraj.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said the High Court had directed the recounting of postal ballots and that irregularities were noticed during the exercise conducted on May 2.
“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah said, alleging that valid votes cast in favour of Raje Gowda were altered after being accepted by counting agents of all parties, including Congress, BJP, and JD(S).
He claimed that during the recounting of postal ballots, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later tampered with by subordinate officials.
“There is a second mark on the votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda. They had accepted these as valid votes. Subsequently, another mark was made by officials. This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” he said.
When asked who was behind the alleged conspiracy, the CM replied, “It was hatched by Jeevaraj and others. It is planned.”
Siddaramaiah further alleged that the returning officer acted improperly by declaring the result despite the presence of an Election Commission observer during the recounting.
“Immediately after the counting, the returning officer announced the result. He should not have done so; this is against the law,” he said.
He pointed out that Raje Gowda had originally won by 201 votes, but after the recounting, the BJP candidate was declared the winner by 52 votes.
“The BJP has committed a criminal act of conspiracy. This is not vote chori but vote dacoity,” he alleged.
The CM said a police complaint had already been filed by Raje Gowda’s election agent, Sudhir Kumar, and emphasised the need for electoral integrity.
“We want transparency and free and fair elections. That is what our Constitution mandates,” he added.
Stating that the government would pursue legal remedies, Siddaramaiah said, “We are preparing an appeal challenging the returning officer’s announcement in a court of law.”
Responding to a separate query on elections in other states, the CM said there appeared to be an anti-incumbency factor in West Bengal, while results in Tamil Nadu were “surprising,” adding that Vijay’s party was emerging as the largest there.
Following the victory of party candidates in Bagalkote and Davanagere South, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence about future electoral prospects in Karnataka.
“Even in 2028, we will win the Assembly elections. We will come back,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah added that he would order a forensic examination into the alleged tampering of postal ballots.
