BJP accuses 'sinking ship' Cong of helping Mallya's sinking airlines

Slamming the former UPA government for allegedly extending support in procuring loans for the Kingfisher Airlines, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday accused former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh of helping business tycoon Vijay Mallya get bank loans for his now-grounded airlines.

BJP spokesman Sambit Patra said that it was under the Congress government that Mallya was first granted a loan despite his company being declared a non-profiting asset.

"The Vijay Mallya case has been a classic case of duping the people of India of their money, of their hard earned money. And we have seen over a period of time there have been certain questions which have been looming large in this case. The question was if an ordinary man goes to take loan then the paper work has to be complete only after a complete paper work and after a lot of grilling, a man is entitled to get a hefty loan," Patra said.

"But how is it that a business man like Vijay Mallya could procure loans worth Rs. 9,000 crore without proper paper works, without proper accounts. And how could he dupe a consortium of banks and the Government of India is a question which has been looming large," he added.

Patra also alleged that the former prime minister met Mallya and put him in touch with a top bureaucrat to facilitate granting of loans to the airlines.

"The first loan was granted to Vijay Mallya in 2004 and then on February 7, 2008. Despite his cost declared NPA, restructuring of his loan was done in December 21, 2010. Even the Supreme Court had asked as to why the banks continued to lend money if they had managed to recover only one-tenth of what they had lend," he added.

Mallya had taken the loans to help his airlines Kingfisher. He left the country in March 2016, leaving at least 17 banks waiting to collect a total of Rs 9000 crore from him.

The IT department and the CBI have pinned charges of money laundering on the liquor baron.