Not In Sync: Congress MP Urges PM Modi To Rescue IL&FS While Rahul Gandhi Opposes The Move 

On Sunday, Congress President Rahul Gandhi trolled Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his efforts to revive IL&FS. He wondered why the government was trying to get the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) involved in reviving IL&FS. But probably, the Congress chief didn’t know that senior leaders in his party had a different view.

Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister, Prof K V Thomas, who represents the Ernakulam Lok Sabha constituency, has written a letter to the Prime Minister seeking the government’s support to IL&FS. In the letter written on 20 September, Thomas said the beleaguered company should be given Rs 8,000 crore equity and debt by tapping institutional investors like LIC, State Bank of India and HDFC.

The Congress leader said IL&FS should not be asked to provide bank guarantee for the funding it receives. Pointing out that it has been shortlisted to handle Rs 36,000 crore private-public partnership projects across Abu Dhabi, Thomas said it has been put on hold in view of the problems faced by IL&FS.

Any default by IL&FS on its commitment will have a huge impact on the country’s economy and lakhs of investors, he said and added that this may affect investments in the infrastructure sector and result in job losses.

The revelation of Thomas’ letter has resulted in Gandhi drawing ridicule in social media.