BJP and TD trade charges over collapse of AgriGold

Vijayawada: BJP National Spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member, G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, said that he would write to all the banks asking them to be cautious and take extra care while auctioning the properties of the troubled AgriGold. Talking to reporters here on Tuesday, Mr Rao said that the TD leaders were trying to buy the most valuable AgriGold properties at cheap rates by not allowing others to take part in the auctions. He also said that he would ask the banks to properly assess and do the valuation of those properties so that there was no scope for undervaluation. He said that since he was also a member of the Parliamentary Consult-ative Committee on Finance, he would  write to  the SBI chief asking them to take over the properties of AgriGold as the bank planned to get into Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) business.

Terming IT minister Nara Lokesh as Yuvaraju, a prince, Mr Rao said that he was trying to capture the most valuable Haailand site on the Guntur-Vijayawada highway at a throwaway price. He said officials and ministers involved in such transactions would eventually go behind bars. The BJP leader also said that he was ready to accept the challenge of the TD Rajya Sabha member, C.M. Ramesh, for an open debate and discussion over the alleged corruption of the TD government.  

The TD alleged that BJP leaders,  G.V.L. Narasimha Rao and Ram Madhav, provided shelter to a key accused person in the AgriGold financial fraud. He had hoodwinked the police for almost three years. TD spokesperson, Lanka Dinakar asked in what way IT minister Nara Lokesh was connected to the sale of properties of AgriGold when they were being monitored by the court. He questioned the silence of the Centre which was the third respondent in the AgriGold case.

Mr Dinakar said that it was during 2013 and 2014, when the present BJP State chief, Kanna Lakshminarayana, was a minister in the state, that AgriGold cheques started bouncing.

He also said that the deposits of  AgriGold, which were only '100 crore in 2013, had risen to '6,300 crore by 2014 when Lakshminrayana was a minister. Mr Dinakar also said that none of the actual AgriGold victims attended the protest programmes conducted by the BJP. He alleged that both the YSRC and BJP had been diverting the actual issue of the case. He added that YSRC Rajya Sabha member, V. Vijaya Sai Reddy, had threatened the Zee Essel Group against buying AgriGold properties due to which they had backtracked.