The Congress and the BJP Tuesday engaged in a slugfest over former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan's remarks on rising NPAs as both the parties defended the economic policies of their governments.
While the opposition party alleged that the increase in non-performing assets (NPAs) was due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "wink a loan" policy, the BJP claimed that Rajan's remarks were a "loud proclamation" of the corruption done by the Congress.
In a note to Chairman of the Estimates Committee Murli Manohar Joshi, Rajan said over optimistic bankers, slowdown in government decision-making process and moderation in economic growth mainly contributed to the mounting bad loans.
The BJP was quick to react to the former RBI governor's remark with Union minister Smriti Irani saying that Rajan's statement clearly proves that the Congress is responsible for the increase in the non-performing assets.
"UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi led a government that attacked the very core of the Indian banking system. Raghuram Rajan has said that between 2006-08, the UPA functioning led to increased NPAs in the Indian banking structure," she said.
Irani termed Rajan's report a "loud proclamation" of the corruption done by the Congress.
In the note, Rajan also said a variety of governance problems such as the "suspect allocation of coal mines coupled with the fear of investigation slowed down government decision making in Delhi, both in the UPA and the subsequent NDA governments."