New Delhi: Raising the pitch for bringing back money stashed away by Indians abroad, the BJP took on the Congress for accusing it of raising the 'black money' issue with elections in mind.
"In April 2008, Advani had written to the Prime Minister on this issue. The reply the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram sent him showed that the government intended to do little except keep going through the pretence of taking some steps," senior BJP leader Arun Shourie told reporters.
He said soon thereafter BJP was "alarmed to learn that a senior official of the Finance Ministry had written to the then Indian Ambassador in Germany not to press the Germans for release of the names of Indians. Lest the Germans take offence and conclude that they were being pressurised".
Shourie said Advani had insisted that the Prime Minister take up this issue at the G-20 summit as countries like Germany, France, USA and UK have been forced by the global meltdown to take leadership role in G-20 and pledge to get their "stolen wealth" back from tax havens.
"BJP believes this is the right time for India to join the global effort to get back its stolen wealth," he said.
After BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani raised the issue of bringing back Indian money in foreign banks and tax havens, Congress had countered it saying it was being raised ahead of elections for electoral gains, among other reasons.