Rs 48,20,69,00,00,000: BJP's corruption barb in 'Congress Files' video

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday released the first episode of 'Congress Files', stepping up its attack on the Congress over corruption allegations during the UPA tenure.

In the video message titled 'Congress means corruption', the BJP alleged that then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh-led government's involvement in various scams, including 2G case, Coal scam and Commonwealth Games row.

"Congress has looted Rs 48,20,69,00,00,000 from the public in 70 years of its rule. That money could have been utilised for so many useful areas of security and development," the video message said.

"At least 24 INS Vikrant, 300 Rafale jets, and 1000 Mangal Missions could have been made or purchased using the amount looted by Congress. But the country had to bear the cost of Congress' corruption, and it lagged behind in the race of progress," it added.

"Coal scam of Rs 1.86 lakh crore, 2G Spectrum scam of Rs 1.76 lakh crore, MNREGA scam of Rs 10 lakh crore, Commonwealth scam of Rs 70,000 crore, a bribe of RS 362 crore in the helicopter deal with Italy, Rs 12 crore bribe for the chairman of railway board," it further said.

The video ends by saying this is only the "jhanki" or trailer and that the movie is still not over.

The BJP's attack comes at a time when Congress has launched several protests over the Adani-Hindensburg issue. The Congress has also alleged the BJP of conspiring against its leader Rahul Gandhi, who was recently disqualified as a Member of Parliament after he was convicted in a defamation case.

Gandhi will on Monday file an appeal before a court in Surat in Gujarat against his conviction in a criminal defamation case.