YES Bank crisis: Links between BJP & Rana Kapoor well known, says Congress

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government must talk about increase in bad loans at YES Bank in the last five years after Narendra Modi came to power, and should not try to divert public attention, said Congress chief spokesperson, Randeep Singh Surjewala here on Sunday.

Responding to the BJP allegations on YES Bank promoter Rana Kapoor's links with the Congress, Surjewala said the government must answer around Rs 2 trillion rise in YES Bank loan book from Rs 55,633 crore in March 2014 to Rs 2.41 trillion in March 2019, and not obfuscate the real issue of people's money sinking into a bad bank.

The relation between the BJP and Kapoor "is well-known", Surjewala said and added, why did the Prime Minister address a YES Bank-sponsored conference on March 6, despite "the RBI moratorium."

The Congress alleged the loans given by YES Bank rose 100 per cent in just two years after demonetisation from Rs 98,210 crore in March 2016 to Rs 2,03,534 crore in March 2018.

Also, the BJP government of Haryana deposited over Rs 1,000 crore in YES Bank just a month ago, knowing that it was sinking, he said and wondered if Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government in Maharashtra also deposited money in the private bank.

"How does an M.F. Hussain painting of Rajiv Gandhi sold 10 years ago by Priyanka Gandhi to YES Bank owner Rana Kapoor & disclosed in her tax returns connect with unprecedented giving of loans of Rs 2,00,000 crore in 5 years of the Modi government," Surjewala said responding to a tweet by BJP leader Amit Malviya on the sale and purchase of Rajiv Gandhi's portrait by Hussain.