Congress targets BJP, Jaitley for colluding with criminal Mallya

New Delhi, Sep 13 (PTI) Accusing the government and Arun Jaitley of lying on the issue of liquor baron Vijay Mallya, Congress president Rahul Gandhi Thursday alleged that the finance minister had "colluded with the criminal" and allowed to him to escape from the country.

The charge came a day after the former Kingfisher Airlines boss said in London that he met the finance minister before leaving India and offered to settle his dues, a charge denied by Jaitley as "false".

Stepping up the attack on Jaitley, the Congress chief said party MP P L Punia saw him sitting with Mallya in the Central Hall of Parliament on March 1, 2016, and holding an elaborate 15-20 minute meeting with him.

"Mr Jaitley is lying, the government is lying on Rafale and the government is lying on Vijay Mallya. A meeting was held with Mr Arun Jaitley and Vijay Mallya. The logistics of Mr Mallya leaving the country were discussed in that meeting," Gandhi told reporters.

"Mr Vijay Mallya was given free passage out of the country by the finance minister and the finance minister has clearly said the criminal told him that he is going to run away. Well, why did you let him run away? Why did you not stop him because you were colluding with him?" he asked.

The Congress chief said an economic offender talks to the country's finance minister in Parliament for 15-20 minutes before fleeing to London.

"The finance minister is lying," he alleged.

"For 2.5 yrs Mr Jaitley has hidden from the public and the investigation agencies the meeting, he now suddenly remembers, in which Mr Mallya told him he was leaving for London. This is enough to make his continuance as FM untenable and disgraceful," Gandhi later tweeted, using the hashtag "ArunJaitleyStepDown".

Punia said he had seen Jaitley and Mallya talking discreetly when he was in the Central Hall of Parliament.

"On March 3, we heard from the media that he (Mallya) fled the country on March 2. I have clearly stated about this in each of my interviews with the media. There are CCTV cameras, we can all see that for proof. If I am wrong, I will resign from politics," Punia said, as he challenged Jaitley to get the CCTV footage of March 1.

Describing it as an "open and shut case of collusion", Gandhi said there was some deal between Jaitley and Mallya.

He added that the finance minister should resign and the matter should be investigated as "the Finance Minister has colluded in a criminal running away from the country".

"The criminal had told him, 'I am going to run away to London'. The finance minister has accepted publicly that he has been told by a criminal that he is going to run away and the finance minister has not done anything, has not informed the CBI, and has not informed the ED. What does that mean? It means, he is colluding with the criminal. Straightforward," Gandhi said.

Asked whether the Congress would move a privilege motion, he said the party would do whatever it could.

However, Jaitley had to first explain why he did not act when told that Mallya was going to "run away to London", Gandhi said.

He also sought to know what transpired during Jaitley's "extended meeting" with the "gentleman in Parliament House" and why he did not act against him.

Gandhi also said that the finance minister is responsible for taking action against such economic offenders, but here he is himself meeting such a man in Parliament.

"Finance Minister did not inform the CBI, did not inform the ED, did not inform the other arms of the government that this thief is running away. Why, what was the cause? What was the reason? What was the deal? Why did it happen?

"There is a notice to restrain Mr Vijay Mallya, that notice is changed magically from the restraining notice to an inform notice why, who did it? Only two people, Prime Minister and Finance Minister," he alleged, asking Jaitley to disclose whether it was he himself who allowed Mallya to flee or was it an order from the prime minister.

On the issue of privilege, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, "We will do everything that is necessary in law to ensure the accountability of Modi government and the Finance Minister to people of India in the running away of the absconder."

Immediately after Jaitley's sharp rebuttal Wednesday, Mallya appeared to tone down the seriousness of his comments, saying it was "not fair" to create a controversy over this issue as it was not a "formal meeting" and he only "happened to meet" the finance minister.

"Since 2014, I have never given him any appointment to meet me and the question of his having met me does not arise," the finance minister had said in a Facebook post.