Calling it an open and shut case of letting fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya run away, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday asked for the resignation of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and accused him of lying.
"What Arun Jaitley ji said yesterday — that Mallya met him briefly in the corridor and spoke two-three words — is a lie. Today, we have got proof. We have Punia ji here [Congress Rajya Sabha MP P Punia] and he seen with his own eyes the meeting between Arun Jaitley ji and Vijay Mallya in Parliament," Mr. Gandhi told reporters at a press conference at the party headquarters.
"It was a 15-20 minute long meeting and a sit-down meeting," he added.
The issue has snowballed into a major political controversy as union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad alleged that Vijay Mallya's statement about meeting Mr Jaitley came after Mr Gandhi's visit to London.
On the other hand, Congress found support from one of its fiercest opponent Dr Subramanian Swamy who tweeted to say that it is an "undeniable fact" that Vijay Mallya told the Finance Minister about his going to London.
Punia challenges Govt. to release video footage
At Mr Gandhi's press conference, Mr. Punia said challenged the government to release the video footage of Parliament's Central Hall of March 1, 2016, where Mr Jaitley allegedly met Vijay Mallya. "It was a proper meeting and CCTV footage will clearly reveal it. I dare them to do so. Either I will leave politics or he should leave politics," said Mr Punia.
Alleging that the government colluded with Mr Mallya getting away, Mr Gandhi asked, "There are two three questions that arise. First, the Finance Minister speaks to the absconder to colluded. Second who changed the CBI's 'arrest notice' to 'inform notice. Third, did Mr Jaitley do it on his own or got orders from above?"asked Mr Gandhi.
Asserting that the Congress will do what it needs to, Mr Gandhi said the Finance Minister must answer the nation about his alleged meetings. "Mr Jaitley writes long blogs but wonder why he never mentioned about this meeting,"he said.
"Mr. Jaitley is lying, the Government is lying on Rafale and the Government is lying on Vijay Mallya. A meeting was held between Arun Jaitley and Vijay Mallya. Mr. Vijay Mallya was given free passage out of the country by the Governnent and the Finance Minister has clearly said that the criminal told him that he is going to run away and why did you let him run away? Why did you not stop him because you were colluding with him?" asked Mr Gandhi.
Even before Mr Gandhi had held the press conference, the Law Minister has targeted him in a series of tweets and said that the Congress was trying to make an issue of "Vijay Mallya accosting Arun Jaitley in the corridors of Parliament."
"This comes after the visit of Rahul Gandhi to London. Are Vijay Mallya and Rahul Gandhi working in tandem? Is the Congress Party keen to save Vijay Mallya who benefitted from the bank facilities during UPA Government?"asked Mr Prasad .
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra went to the extent of alleging that Mr Gandhi was a proxy owner of Kingfisher Airlines and that's why loans to the now defunct airlines were restructured twice — in 2008 and 2012 — before it became bankrupt.
Surjewala quotes tweet of Swamy
Doing a second press conference in a couple of hours, Congress communication in-charge Randeep Surjewala quoted the tweet of BJP MP Dr Subramanian Swamy to shore up the party's argument.
"Now a member of BJP's national executive is raising question that Rahul ji had asked in his press conference,"said Mr. Surjewala referring Dr Swamy' tweet.
In his tweet, Dr Swamy had said, "We have now two undeniable facts on the Mallya escape issue: 1. Look Out Notice was diluted on Oct 24, 2015 from “Block” to “Report” departure enabling Mallya to depart with 54 checked luggage items. 2. Mallya told FM in Central Hall of Parliament that he was leaving for London."
