New Delhi: Even as the Congress is planning to raise hell over bank defaulter and fugitive Nirav Modi being spotted by a journalist in London, former party spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla asks what business Rahul Gandhi had with the fraud in 2013 when the Congress president was seen mingling with him at a private party.





Any fascination for bridal jewellery, Rahul?



It was an occasion of the launch of some bridal jewellery by Nirav's firm. The Congress president couldn't have had a fascination for such accessories. This was also the time when Nirav Modi and his ilk were showered with loans that finally created the monster of NPA (non-performing assets) in the Indian banking system.



Will it be wrong to infer Rahul was extending UPA government's favours to the dubious businessman, Shehzad asks.



Do you normally attend such parties, Rahul?



If yes, what are the similar events the Congress president has been a part of? Poonawalla wants to know.



If being caught in a photo frame is guilt, isn’t Rahul guilty?



The Congress made a song and dance about a photo where Nirav Modi was seen in a frame with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Never mind that the diamantaire had been invited to the World Economic Forum by a third party and not by the government, let alone by the Prime Minister himself, says Poonawalla!



By the same token, Rahul Gandhi must, Poonawalla says, must answer what he was doing with Nirav Modi in September 2013 at Imperial Hotel, New Delhi. Rahul’s case is incriminating because he went there on Nirav Modi’s invitation.



Poonawalla demands a lie detector test for Gandhi and himself to ascertain the truth. Besides, he says, his claims can be cross-verified with records of the hotel where Nirav Modi had hosted the party, CCTV camera footage and SPG records (since the Congress president enjoys Z+ category of state protection).



Who benefited the crooks? Who’s chasing them?



The case of Kingfisher’s Vijay Mallya is similar, says Shehzad. His entire business empire was built on loans received from the public sector banks under the UPA government. On the contrary, his extradition from the UK is almost certain now, thanks to the dogged pursuit of the case by India’s agencies under strict instructions from the Modi government, Poonawalla says.



Similarly, says Poonawalla, all the dubious loans that Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi managed from nationalised banks as well as third parties who trusted the LoUs of these banks were transactions of the UPA era or transactions by banking officials appointed under the previous government.



And who is after these alleged frauds with Interpol red corner notices and other legal mechanisms? It is the Modi government, says Poonawalla.



Yet, Poonawalla adds, the Congress, with a hand so obviously in the till, has the gall to question the integrity of the current government.