Alleging that BJP president Amit Shah made no mention of his “liabilities” in his Rajya Sabha election affidavit, the Congress on Saturday said that it would approach the Election Commission against him.
The BJP hit back at the Congress with the allegation that it is resorting to fake news.
At a press conference, former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh said Kusum Finserve, a company owned by Mr. Shah’s son Jay Shah, managed to obtain a credit facility of ₹95 crore after it mortgaged two plots and a building owned by the BJP president.
Mr. Ramesh questioned how Kusum Finserve, with a net worth of only ₹6 crore, managed a “huge” credit facility of nearly 15 times the firm’s worth. “Shell companies are closing and they should close but Shah companies are flourishing,” said Mr. Ramesh.
In a strong rebuttal, BJP spokesperson Sambit Partra said Mr. Shah cannot show the liability of an independent entity belonging to his son as his own. “The allegations against him [Shah] are totally bogus and fake... Even if Amit Shah has mortgaged his property, it does not mean that liability is his,” said Mr. Patra and pointed out that the BJP chief had only mortgaged his property as a collateral security. “On the contrary, he (Shah) will be violating the law if he shows his adult son’s liability in his election affidavit.”Mr. Patra added.
Accusing the Congress of “rehasing an old story” the BJP spokesperson said the Congress was trying to deflect attention from their own “scams including evading income tax liabilities.”
“That the son of a big leader like Amit Shah is pledging his father’s assets as collateral is itself noteworthy,” he said, adding all returns, including income tax and GST, of the company are up to date and if the filing of annual return is delayed, then it can be submitted with late filing fee.
The Congress had claimed that the firm was given a leasehold plot, valued at ₹6 crore, at Sanand by the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) in May 2017.
“Within one month of getting the plot, Kusum Finserve took a loan of ₹17 crore from a private bank on the basis of the land. This is a highly questionable and a dubious transaction,”said Mr. Ramesh, adding it is yet to submit its annual report for 2016-17.
He also alleged that the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited, or IREDA, a public sector undertaking managed by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, last year granted ₹10.5 crore to Kusum Finserve to set up a wind energy plant at Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh) while “rules’ dont permit more than ₹5 crore loan.
