Investigate charges against Shah's son, demands Opposition

NEW DELHI: Opposition parties demanded a probe into the reported 16,000 times increase in the turnover of a company in which BJP chief Amit Shah's son was a director even as Congress asked PM Narendra Modi to explain the issue in the wake of "his claims about crony capitalism". Among the parties attacking BJP were Trinamool, AAP, CPM and CPI.

Addressing a press conference, Congress leader Kapil Sibal said filings with the Registrar of Companies showed that the fortunes of Jay Shah changed swiftly with the BJP's ascent to power in 2014.

"We know who CBI, ED will investigate and who ED and CBI will not investigate. Is the PM open and honest enough to say `investigate the son of Amit Shah'? That is the issue," he said.

Pointing out that Jay Shah's company posted losses in 2013 and 2014, Sibal said, "There was some change in May (change of government) and profit ka karwan shuru ho gaya." Sibal asked why unsecured loans were given to Jay's enterprise, without any mortgage or guarantee, also arguing that there was no explanation of how his agri business had yielded such huge profits. "This is the Shah model of business," he mocked. He said criminality could only be established if there was an investigation, stressing the need for agencies to step in. Later in the evening, Sibal wondered why Goyal, a Union minister, had to defend Jay Shah."From an official platform, he defended Jay Shah. He should be defending the government," he said.

Trinamool Congress too wondered if the government would now use CBI or ED to probe the allegations, just as it has been quick to use these agencies against other political parties. CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury tweeted, "Latest in the series of corruption cases under Modi...Why is PM silent? L K Advani had resigned after the Jain diary episode while its then party president Bangaru Laxman had quit after a corruption expose." He asked if this would happen now under the Modi government.

CPI leader D Raja demanded a court-monitored SIT probe. AAP's Ashutosh wondered why "even after windfall profit, the company strangely shut down". He suspected that political influence was used to secure loans from different firms for Jay Shah's company.