Arun Jaitley lambastes Congress, Rahul Gandhi over IL&FS crisis

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday lambasted Congress and its president Rahul Gandhi for spreading disinformation about the government’s possible moves in relation to the private sector company IL&FS that is struggling to pay its creditors.

In response to Rahul Gandhi’s tweet accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of encouraging crony capitalism, FM Arun Jaitley said, “The Congress Party, for the last few days, has been busy spreading disinformation about the government’s possible moves in relation to the private sector company IL&FS. The Congress is a national saboteur. It wants to sabotage India’s economy by allowing a situation in relation to a company to persist, expand and become unmanageable. It lacks statesmanship and vision.”

In his latest blog, FM Arun Jaitley said several entities including LIC have invested heavily in IL&FS over the years. “Do I start calling all these investments today a scam as per the perverted Rahul Gandhi school of thinking?” he asked.

The Congress Party, for the last few days, has been busy spreading disinformation about the Government’s possible moves in relation to the private sector company IL&FS.

— Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) October 1, 2018

The Congress is a national saboteur. It wants to sabotage India’s economy by allowing a situation in relation to a company to persist, expand and become unmanageable. It lacks statesmanship and vision.

— Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) October 1, 2018

“The financial institutions’ investment in any company – ‘is it a scam’ as Rahul Gandhi and his coterie are spreading?” he asked. “Do I start calling all these investments today ‘a scam’ as per ‘the perverted Rahul Gandhi school of thinking?’ From where has he invented a proposal of Rs 91,000 crore investment likely to take place by LIC and SBI in the IL&FS? In fact, it is the section of the Congress leadership which has been urging me to enable investments in the IL&FS and save the company,” he added.

The financial institutions’ investment in any company – ‘is it a scam’ as Rahul Gandhi and his coterie are spreading? Was it a scam in 1987 when the IL&FS was promoted with the Central Bank of India having 50.5% shares and the UTI having 30.5% shares?

— Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) October 1, 2018

Was it a scam in 2005 when LIC acquired 15% stake in IL&FS and in March, 2006 when it acquired another 11.10% stake in the IL&FS? In fact, LIC further bought 19.34 lakh shares in IL&FS in 2010.

— Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) October 1, 2018

Reacting to the blog of Finance Minister, Congress alleged that Jaitley was desperate to “cover up government’s thievery” in the case. In a tweet, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said, “One more ‘Shirk Responsibility, Sell Family Silver, Save Cronies’ excuse by FM Jaitley, like in case of 4Ms – Mallya, Modi junior 1 and 2, Mehul Bhai…”

One more ‘Shirk Responsibility, Sell Family Silver, Save Cronies’ excuse by FM Jaitley, like in case of 4Ms – Mallya, Modi junior 1&2, Mehul Bhai.

An MP’s a letter is not the law of land for FM to follow.

Proves the desperation on FM’s part to cover up Govt’s thievery. #ILFS https://t.co/0WwOZtXOLT

— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) October 1, 2018

On Sunday, Congress President Rahul Gandhi lashed out at PM Modi for the liquidity crisis in infrastructure lending giant Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services group (IL&FS), which has recently defaulted on a few loan repayments.

In a series of tweet, Rahul Gandhi asked, “Modi ji your favourite company IL&FS is about to go bankrupt, so why do you want to use the money of the Life Insurance Corporation to save it?” “LIC is a symbol of faith and stability. People save every rupee to buy LIC policies. Why do you [want to] save such frauds with their money? “Hope it is not that for you, ILFS means ‘I Love Financial Scams’,” he asked.

लाइटस, कैमरा, स्कैम

सीन 1: 2007, CM मोदी IL&FS कंपनी को 70,000 करोड़ का प्रोजेक्ट GIFT CITY देते हैं। आजतक कुछ काम नहीं। जालसाजियाँ आईं सामने।

सीन 2: 2018, PM मोदी LIC-SBI में लगे जनता के पैसे से 91000 करोड़ की कर्जदार IL&FS को बेलआउट दे रहे हैं।

“चौकीदार की दाढ़ी में तिनका”

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 30, 2018

The Congress chief also said that in 2007 Modi, who was then the chief minister of Gujarat, handed over an infrastructure project to the company that has not been completed yet.

मोदीजी, आपकी चहेती निजी कम्पनी ILFS डूबने वाली है। आप LIC का पैसा लगाकर उसे बचाना चाहते हो।क्यों?

LIC देश के भरोसे का चिन्ह है। एक-एक रुपया जोड़कर लोग LIC की पॉलिसी लेते हैं। उनके पैसे से जालसाजों को क्यों बचाते हो?

कहीं आपके लिए ILFS का मतलब ‘I Love Financial Scams’ तो नहीं?

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 30, 2018

According to the Mint, the shareholders of IL&FS have approved plans to raise money through debt and equity. Shareholders allowed the firm to raise Rs 15,000 crore through a non-convertible debt issue, increase the firm’s borrowing limit by 40% to Rs 35,000 crore, and increase its share capital.

The Life Insurance Corporation which is the biggest state insurer, is also one of the shareholders of IL&FS. Its chairperson VK Sharma on Friday last week said that the firm can raise Rs 60,000 crore by selling assets. The following day, IL&FS appointed global professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal to devise a restructuring plan.

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