Congress raised questions on Mallya-Jaitley meet in March 2016; Govt remained reticent

Congress had then sought from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clear his stand on the alleged meeting after Congress leader Pramod Tiwari made the charge at zero hour in the Rajya Sabha.

Vijay Mallya (Photo: PTI/File)

New Delhi: The fight between Bharatiya Janta Party and political rival Congress over ‘government assistance’ to fugitive Vijay Mallya began two years ago on March 14, 2016; after latter party raised questions on Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s meeting with Mallya in the parliament, before he fled the country. Congress had then sought from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clear his stand on the alleged meeting after Congress leader Pramod Tiwari made the charge at zero hour in the Rajya Sabha. Party members then disrupted the proceedings with members entering the well of the House raising slogans like “Vijay Mallya, (Lalit) Modi ko wapas lao, wapas lao’’ (bring back Vijay Mallya and Lalit Modi). When did Mallya leave India? UB Group chairman Mallya left the country for the UK on 2 March 2016 under a cloud over unpaid debts of nearly Rs.9,100 crore owed by his grounded Kingfisher Airlines Ltd to a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India. Mallya, who is being probed by enforcement directorate, later tweeted that he is not an “absconder” but an international businessman who travels “to and from India frequently”. The Congress issued a statement asking, “Whether Vijay Mallya met and spoke to finance minister, Arun Jaitley before he suddenly left the country on 2 March, 2016? Whether Arun Jaitley informed and gave details of this conversation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi? Will the complete details of this meeting and conversation be shared with Parliament and people of India?’’ Now, the question rises that if government was aware that Mallya is about to flee, was it possible for them to have kept Mallya from fleeing.