‘Why are Mallya, Lalit still abroad ’

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi holds a Hengdang, an ancient Assamese sword used in warfare, at a rally in Tezpur on Thursday as APCC president Anjan Dutta (left) and Assam CM Tarun Gogoi (right) look on. —PTI

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi continued his attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that the BJP government has launched a scheme to convert black money into white instead of bringing back black money from abroad.

Addressing a public meeting despite a boycott call by ethnic groups, Mr Gandhi said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about bringing back black money from overseas. Then why are liquor baron Vijay Mallya and former IPL chief Lalit Modi still abroad ”

Mr Gandhi said, “Modi talked about bringing back black money from abroad and putting Rs 15 lakh in each Indian’s bank account. Is there anyone in this crowd who got Rs 15 lakh ”

The Congress vice-president said, “Modi talks about bringing back black money and on the other hand Mallya flees the country. Two-three days before his departure, Mallya and Arun Jaitley had talked in Parliament House. I ask what discussion took place between them.”

He said the BJP government has launched a “kala dhan ko safed kar lo (convert your black money into white)” scheme.

“Modi will lecture in Assam but will say nothing about Mallya, Lalit Modi or the fair and lovely scheme. They (BJP) think they can go on lying and people will go on listening to them,” he said.

“I have named it fair and lovely scheme because any gangster, militant or criminal in India can convert their black money into white money by just going to the government and paying minimum tax on it.”

He warned that if BJP wins they would provoke an Indian to fight against another Indian.