Black Money Issue - Congress Hits Back At BJP, Says Wrong To Blame UPA

Black Money Issue - Congress Hits Back At BJP, Says Wrong To Blame UPA

New Delhi, Dec 14 (ANI): With Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slamming the Central Congress for black money stashed away in safe havens abroad, the Congress on Wednesday hit back at the opposition party saying that it was wrong to blame United Progressive Alliance (UPA) only for the issue.

"The UPA from past two years has been doing much to bring back the black money stashed away abroad, but what has the BJP done in its six-year rule?," Tiwari asked

“UPA governments cannot be blamed for the black money problem," said Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari in the Lok Sabha.

Manish Tiwari - Congress Spokesperson 

Tiwari further questioned the BJP's stand on the issue during its six-year long rule at the Centre.

Earlier, senior BJP leader LK Advani, who moved an adjournment motion on black money in the Lok Sabha slammed the Congress-led UPA Government for not taking appropriate steps to bring back the black money stashed away in safe havens abroad.

On Opposition's charge as to why the government is not revealing the names of illegal account holders, Tiwari said the UPA government cannot do the same as it is not permissible under the laws of Switzerland where most of such accounts are located.

Starting the debate on the issue in Lok Sabha, Advani demanded that the government should ensure that black money stashed abroad should be brought back and also explain what action was being taken against those who have opened such accounts.

Referring to the report that a list of Indians with Swiss accounts was recently given to India by the French government, Advani said: “Let the government reveal the names of 782 tax evaders,"

"High tax leads to black money being kept in foreign banks. Tax evasion is the reason," he added.

As per reports, an estimated 500 billion dollars to 1.4 trillion dollars of unaccounted money has been deposited secretly in overseas banks by wealthy Indians and corporate bodies.

Earlier, in February 2011, legal notices were served to 17 persons in connection with foreign bank holdings, but international agreements and legal hurdles barred the government from revealing the identities of the persons named.