Rahul Gandhi addressed parliament on default of loans.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday demanded in parliament that the government reveal the names of top 50 willful loan defaulters and the steps taken to recover dues from them.
"The Prime Minister says that those who have taken loans from the banks and have fled from the country will be brought back to India. I asked for the names of those who have defaulted, but I did not get any reply. My question is who the 50 top wilful defaulters are," Rahul Gandhi said in the Lok Sabha.
As Anurag Thakur, the Minister of State for Finance, rose to reply to the question, Congress leaders objected and demanded answers from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. To this, the Speaker said that he was within his rights to reply to the question.
Mr Thakur said the names of those who had defaulted on loans above Rs 25 lakh were available on the website and that most of the loans were given during the Congress-led UPA rule.
"A list of wilful defaulters is available on the website. The government is not going to hide. It will not allow itself to be blamed for sins committed by others. All these people took the money and went away during their (Congress) rule," he said, adding that the names of defaulters of over Rs one crore were also available.
Mr Gandhi's question, he remarked, showed his lack of understanding on the subject. "They distributed money, we brought it back," he said.
He also referred to the sale of a painting of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor through cheque and said he was not making political allegations.
"We did not go there," he said.
Mr Thakur said the government has taken a series of steps to improve the condition of banks including asset capital review and recapitalization.