Hitting back at the Congress for questioning whether the Centre would seek Vijay Mallya's deportation, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that the industrialist was a 'Congress baby' and accused the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) dispensation of helping him by forcing a bank to provide a loan of Rs 3,100 crore despite his company's poor finances.
"Mallya is a Congress baby. When his company (Kingfisher Airline) was on the verge of closure, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh suggested such private companies should be helped. The government pushed banks to give him a package of Rs 3,100 crore," BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said, adding Congress should come clean on its deals with him.
"While around 25 cases have been initiated against Vijay Mallya under the Narendra Modi government, his frozen bank accounts were opened under the then UPA government and he was given loan," he added, PTI reported.
"What was the compulsion of the Congress that it helped Mallya time and again? It should make it clear instead of trying to mislead the nation by blaming the Modi government. Why did you open his frozen accounts? Why did State Bank of India give him loan of Rs 3,100 crore despite his poor finances?" he asked.
Defending the NDA government over Mallya's departure for London, Sharma said there was no court order against his travel abroad when he left on March 3.
Congress today asked the government whether it will seek Mallya's deportation from the UK or would put his case in cold storage by going in for his extradition as, it claimed, was done in the matter related to Lalit Modi.
Sharma added that former Indian Premier League (IPL) boss Lalit Modi, like Mallya, was a product of the Congress.