The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday launched a blistering attack on the Congress over allegations levelled by fugitive former liquor baron Vijay Mallya against Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
Responding to Congress president Rahul Gandhi's demand for a probe over Mallya's claims, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said those people who are out on bail should not be questioning people who are innocent.
Patra said that the BJP has enough evidence which shows that Rahul Gandhi was using black money and the Gandhi family was helping Vijay Mallya with sweet deals. Rahul Gandhi travelled free in Kingfisher Airlines, which was once owned by Mallya, Patra went on to add.
"Rahul Gandhi took one crore loan from a shell company, we have the confession of the company directors.
The BJP leader also claimed that there are documents that show how the RBI and UPA under Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh had given 'sweet deals' to Kingfisher Airlines.
"It appears through these chain of documents that Kingfisher Airlines was owned not by Vijay Mallya but by the Gandhi family," Patra said.
Rahul Gandhi replies
Moments after Sambit Patra's press conference, Rahul Gandhi addressed reporters at the party headquarters accusing the government of lying over the Rafale deal and Vijay Mallya issue. Rahul Gandhi claimed that his party leader PL Punia, who was seated next to the Congress president during the press conference, had witnessed Mallya's meeting with Arun Jaitley.
Rahul Gandhi said the finance minister writes long blogs but never mentioned about this '20-minute-long' meeting.
Mallya, 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.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has already rubbished Mallya's statement.
Jaitley said he never gave him an appointment since 2014 but the liquor baron misused his position as Rajya Sabha MP to accost him in Parliament.
WATCH: Gandhis helped Mallya with 'sweet deals, says BJP
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