NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Tuesday slammed the Modi government for writing off loans of crony capitalists while being blind to the misery of the poor in the country who lost their livelihoods as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury 's sharp take down of the Modi government came in the backdrop of RBI ’s response to a RTI query in which it said loans of Rs 68,000 crore of defaulters like Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi were written off by the Modi government.“The man who ran away from India after a fraud was welcomed by Modi at PM’s residence, calling him Mehul Bhai. Not only did Modi’s “Mehul Bhai” escape, he also got his bank loans from public money written off!,” Yechury said.The Left party leader also alleged that while the government claimed to have no money to fund the poor and vulnerable who lost their livelihoods and were bordering on starvation, Modi always had resources to help his capitalist friends. “This, under the same Modi govt which says that it has no money for the poor and the vulnerable who have lost their livelihoods in the sudden lockdown. Or doesn’t have money to give free food from grains, rotting in FCI godowns. But there’s always money for ‘humaare Mehul Bhai’!”, he said.CPM criticism echoed that of former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who accused the government on Tuesday of evading his direct question in Parliament on India’s Top 50 loan defaulters. The question, he claimed had remained unanswered by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Now, nearly a month later, it has emerged that Indian banks have technically written off Rs 68,607 crore due from 50 top wilful defaulters , including absconding diamantaire Mehul Choksi, according to a reply under RTI from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).