Swamy, Congress tear into Modi government on black money in Swiss banks

The Narendra Modi government's claims of fighting against black money has taken a major beating.

The latest data released by the Swiss National Bank reveal that the amount deposited by Indians in the Swiss banks in the past one year has increased by 50 per cent.

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy has hit out at the government for its failure in curbing generation of black money.

Writing on his Twitter handle, Swamy said, "Secret Swiss bank accounts deposits from global sources rose by three per cent in last 12 months. Indians' deposits however grew 50 per cent."

Breaking News: Major success of Finance Secy Adhia. Secret Swiss Bank accounts deposits from global sources rose by 3% last 12 months. Indians deposits however grew 50% . Adhia would have managed more if Rajeshwar was not a distraction. Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) June 29, 2018

The Opposition was also quick enough to cash in on this and has attacked the government for failing in its promises to curb black money.

Money parked by Indians in Swiss banks rose over 50% to Rs 7,000 crore in 2017.#ITVideo
More videos: https://t.co/Nounxo6IKQ pic.twitter.com/TuYL2R1l2P India Today (@IndiaToday) June 29, 2018

The Congress in a tweet said, "One of PM Modi's long-standing campaign promises of bringing back black money falls flat. While you sit and wait for your promised Rs 15 lakh, more capital has flown the coop."

Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Manish Tewari also hit out at the Centre.

Rupee at 69,Indian deposits in Swiss Banks up 50%,US arm twisting India on Iran after snubbing It on 2+2 dialogue,Post Maldives-Sri Lankas Rajapaksa warns India agnst interference in internal affairs,J&K up in Smoke & NDA/BJP busy leaking strike videos. Ache Din are here! G.Morn Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) June 29, 2018

Tweeting a caricature on the development, the Aam Aadmi Party said the black money parked in foreign lands will not return in PM Modi's government.

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! pic.twitter.com/WxrCldfb6e AAP (@AamAadmiParty) June 29, 2018

General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Sitaram Yechury alleged that prime minister has no time or intention to remember the tall promises he made in 2014.

"From depositing 15 lakh in each bank account to making Rupee stronger to doubling farmers' income, he has only insulted and humiliated us Indians," he said in a tweet.

In another tweet, Yechury said the data is no surprise since the "Modi government writes off lakhs of crores of unpaid loans of crony corporate and businessmen flee India after looting public money under his watch".

Speaking in a similar vein, senior Supreme Court advocate and Swaraj Abhiyan leader Prashant Bhushan said:

HOW MUCH IS THE RISE?

Money parked by Indians in Swiss banks rose over 50 per cent to 1.01 billion Swiss franc (Rs 7,000 crore) in 2017. This was against a three-year downward trend and comes amid India's clampdown on suspected black money stashed in Switzerland.

In comparison, the total funds held by all foreign clients of Swiss banks rose about 3 per cent to 1.46 trillion Swiss franc or about Rs 100 lakh crore in 2017, according to the official annual data released today by Swiss National Bank (SNB), the central banking authority of the Alpine nation.

The surge in Indian money held with Swiss banks comes as a surprise given India's continuing clampdown on suspected black money stashed abroad, including in banks of Switzerland that used to be known for their famed secrecy walls for years.

The Indian money in Swiss banks had fallen by 45 per cent in 2016, marking their biggest ever yearly plunge, to 676 million Swiss franc (about Rs 4,500 crore) -- the lowest ever since the European nation began making the data public in 1987.

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