Following a national news agency report that an ‘unprecedented hike in bank fraud cases’ happened under the Modi government watch in 2017-18, politicians are coming out with their reactions. It remains to be seen what the finance minister says on the issue.

“Through an RTI query, it has been revealed that the the bank fraud cases rose in last one year to 6,800 to the tune of ₹71,500 crore,” Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergil said at a press conference at the party headquarters.

The Congress on June 4 demanded a white paper on the rising incidence of bank frauds and cited a report by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to press its demand.

“Through an RTI query, it has been revealed that the the bank fraud cases rose in last one year to 6,800 to the tune of ₹71,500 crore,” Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergil said at a press conference at the party headquarters.

In 2017-18, the total number of bank fraud cases stood at 5,916, amounting to ₹41,460 crore, Mr. Shergil added.

Criticising the government for not disclosing the names of wilful defaulters, he said, “The Supreme Court in 2015 directed the RBI and the government to disclose the names of the wilful defaulters. But the names have not been disclosed yet. Why is the BJP hiding these names?”

The Congress also appealed to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to take stock of the Finance Ministry and rescue the economy.

“The BJP needs to come out of the their election celebration mode to rescue the sinking economy from the bank frauds and flying fraudsters,” he said.

The remarks at the press conference notwithstanding, the Lok Sabha poll debacle seems to have put the principal Opposition party on the defensive. Despite focussing on jobs and economic growth during the election campaign, the Congress has so far only offered a muted reaction to the fourth-quarter GDP growth figure of 5.8%, the slowest pace in the last five years, as well as the release of the official data on unemployment.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who had raised the issue of jobs and the economy as the main campaign plank, didn’t offer any comment even on social media platforms.

Chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, however, addressed a press conference on June 1 to criticise the increase in LPG cooking gas prices. “Modi 2.0 government has given a return gift to the people after coming to power,” he said at the time. “The Congress demands immediate reversal of the hike in cooking gas,” he added.

  economy, fraud, India