Take action on Chidambaram's foreign assets: Sitharaman to Rahul Gandhi

Launching a scathing attack at Congress leader P Chidambaram, the BJP on Sunday accused former Finance Minister of holding assets to the tune of $3 billion in illegal foreign bank accounts.

Calling it the “Nawaz Sharif moment” of the Congress Party, Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the alleged financial discrepancies can’t be an overlooked by the party and demanded how the former finance minister forgot to reveal details of his family’s foreign investments. She also asked whether Congress president Rahul Gandhi would investigate the matter. 

In July 2017, Pakistan Supreme Court disqualified former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from holding public office over corruption charges brought to fore by the Panama Papers case.

“Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who is himself out on bail should come out and tell us if he is going to investigate this case involving one of his leaders,” Sitharaman said.

"The present chargesheets are for not disclosing, either partly or fully, immovable assets like the one at Cambridge in the UK worth Rs. 5.37 crore, property worth Rs. 80 lakh in the same country and assets worth Rs.3.28 crore in the US," informed Sitharaman.

“Chidambaram didn’t disclose his investments to the tax authority, violating Black Money Law, which was brought by Modi govt as part of its drive against black money and to prosecute those Indians who have secretly stashed illicit wealth abroad,” she said.

"Under the Black Money Act, 4 charge sheets have been filed against P Chidambaram and his family for possessing and operating several illegal assets and accounts in foreign countries," BJP President Amit Shah tweeted on Sunday, adding that the income tax department estimates illegal assets held by UPA's FM to be to the tune of 3 billion dollars.