Congress should clarify its involvement in ABG Shipyard scam: BJP
Feb 16, 2022
New Delhi [India], February 16 : Accusing the Congress of involvement in ABG Shipyard scam, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday said the grand old party and corruption maintain a good relationship.
Addressing a press conference here, Rajya Sabha MP and BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said, "A few days ago the Congress party tried to make a baseless allegation of corruption based on the issue of ABG Shipyard Ltd. Now the facts that are coming out and on the basis of the CBI's factsheet indicate that the Congress party is connected with this scam."
"ABG Shipyard became NPA on November 30, 2013. It was Congress government at that time. There were irregularities in its accounts. The major irregularities were between 2005 and 2011. Why was no action taken at that time? A big deal of Navy was given during the UPA regime in 2011. Our government later cancelled it," he stated.
The BJP leader said the Rs 22,000 crore scam started in 2012 and continued in March 2014, till the last date of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government. He said the loan of ABG Shipyard was restructured in Congress rule.
"Now we want to ask the Congress party to tell what was their involvement in the biggest scam. The promoters of the company were believed to have a very close relationship with the former political advisor to the Congress president. Congress and corruption maintain a good relationship. Today Congress has exposed itself," Trivedi added.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday has issued Look Out Circulars (LOCs) against ABG Shipyard, the flagship firm of the ABG Group and some of its top executives to prevent them from leaving the country due to their alleged involvement in a bank fraud case of over Rs 22,842 crore.
According to the Central agency, ABG Shipyard defaulted on Rs 22,842 crore loans that it owed to 28 banks including the State Bank of India.
