'Desperate' Congress coming out with fake documents: Nirmala Sitharaman

Thiruvananthapuram: Taking a swipe at the Congress, Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman Tuesday said out of "desperation" it was coming out with fake, fictitious, manufactured documents and allegations to attack the BJP in the coming polls.

Sitharaman's response was to a query on the Congress and other opposition parties releasing a video purportedly showing a "BJP leader" exchanging old notes after demonetisation on a commission of 40 per cent.

They, however, did not vouch for the authenticity of the 30-minute footage.

Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal – accompanied by senior leaders from his party as well those from the RJD, Loktantrik Janata Dal, National Conference and TDP – alleged the video was filmed by some journalists in Ahmedabad.

Sitharaman, who was in Thiruvananthapuram to launch the poll campaign of former Mizoram Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan, told a press conference here that her party had rebutted every allegation of the Congress with "substantive facts."

The video released by the Opposition parties Tuesday shows a person, who Sibal claims is a BJP leader with proximity to the party's top leaders, exchanging money purportedly after December 31, 2016, the time given by the government to exchange old notes after it demonetised high-value notes on November 8 that year.

The amount of money exchanged is Rs 5 crore according to the conversation between the men in the grainy video and commentary that runs through the footage.

However, Sibal did not provide any other proof to support his claims.

"Of late, haven't you all noticed, the Congress party in its desperation, releases a page of a diary or a so called diary, releases something else, all based on fictitious, fake, manufactured documents, which are each day rebutted by no less than Finance minister, Arun Jaitley, himself.

"Literally every day. Much before light dawns on those fake allegations, rebuttals are given with substantive facts," she said.

The Defence minister also lashed out at Sibal and said he was "notorious" for his comments which do not just have any basis.

"He (Sibal) was the same person who when he was a minister called the loss that the government faced in 2G scam, in spite of CAG report pointing out the loss, a zero loss," she said.

Sitharaman also alleged that the Congress party was in a methodical way going with fake documents, fake allegations, fake abuses and "therefore they carry on with a tirade."

"It's a sign of desperation. They're just not going to make any difference in this election. Let them work to retain their 44 seats," she said.

Lashing out at the LDF, Sitharaman said a "chaotic situation" was prevailing in Kerala.

"In Kerala, one of the very important issue to take up is the terrible inheritance of violence," she said, urging the friends of the Left party to question the party.