'Thank god they spared the peon': Shatrughan Sinha taunts Modi govt over PNB scam

Shatrughan Sinha mocked the Narendra Modi government for blaming auditors and regulators for the multi-crore PNB fraud.

New Delhi, Feb 27: It is not just Congress president Rahul Gandhi who is demanding an answer from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rs 11,360-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam. The mastermind behind the scam, billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi, has already fled the country before any action could have been taken against him.

On Monday, dissident Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of Parliament (MP) Shatrughan Sinha mocked the Narendra Modi government for blaming auditors and regulators for the multi-crore PNB fraud saying, "Thank God they spared the peon".

Sinha's remark was an obvious reference to a recent statement by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley blaming the multiple layers of auditing system which "chose to either look the other way or do a casual job" for the fraud.

The actor-turned-politician, who has been critical of his party and its government, said, "Taali kaptaan ko to gaali bhi kaptaan ko (the captain has to receive both bouquets as well as brickbats)"

"Our learned people, after blaming everyone from Nehru regime to Congress misrule, said that auditors are to blame for PNB scam. Thank God they spared the peon, he tweeted.

Our learned people, after blaming everyone from Nehru regime to Congress misrule, have said that Auditors are to blame for PNB scam..thank God they spared the peon. The moot question is..as the actual owners of PNB, what was the Govt. doing for at least 4 of those 6 years...1>2

— Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) February 26, 2018

The moot question is, as actual owners of PNB, what was the government doing for at least four of those six years, Sinha said referring to the irregularities that began in 2011 when the Congress-led UPA was in power at the Centre.

"Do we have any answers, Sir. With due respect, as they say taali kaptaan ko to gaali bhi kaptaan ko," he tweeted. Sinha, who is known for his colourful oratory and wit, wrote an Urdu couplet to underscore his point.

"Tu idhar udhar ki na baat kar ye bata ki qafila kyun luta mujhe rahzanon se gila nahin teri rahbari ka saval hai (Do not beat about the bush, tell me why the robbery took place. I have do not have much of a complaint against the robbers, but the credibility of your leadership is at stake)," he wrote on the microblogging site.

We wish to ask for answers through this couplet

"tū idhar udhar kī na baat kar ye batā ki qāfila kyuuñ luTā

mujhe rahzanoñ se gilā nahīñ
terī rahbarī kā savāl hai"

Do we have any answers Sir? With due respect, as they say - "Taali kaptaan ko to gaali bhi kaptaan ko".

— Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) February 26, 2018

Sinha, who is also a member of the BJP national executive, had recently questioned the presence of Nirav Modi, the prime accused in the fraud, among the delegates who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the World Economic Summit in Davos.

He has also been sharply critical of the prime minister for blaming Jawaharlal Nehru for the partition and previous Congress governments for various problems currently being faced by the country.

Continuing with his attack against the Modi government over the several banking scams that have come to light in the recent times, Rahul had tweeted, "Under Modi Ji's 'Jan Dhan Loot Yojana', another scam! 390 Cr., involving a Delhi based jeweller. Same Modus operandi as Nirav Modi. Fake LOU's. Predictably, like Mallya and Nirav, this promoter too has disappeared while the Govt looked the other way."

Under Modi Ji's "Jan Dhan Loot Yojana", another scam!

390 Cr., involving a Delhi based jeweller. Same Modus operandi as Nirav Modi. Fake LOU's.

Predictably, like Mallya and Nirav, this promoter too has disappeared while the Govt looked the other way.#ModiRobsIndia

— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) February 24, 2018

However, on Monday, the Congress deleted a tweet on a banking scam where the CBI has named son-in-law of Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh.

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