📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Ministry of Finance of India
Politics
Finance Minister Sitharaman Accuses Congress of Banking Scandals from Mundhra to Kingfisher
✍️ Fortune India
🗓 30 Oct 2026, 07:50 PM
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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has publicly accused the Congress party of involvement in a series of banking irregularities spanning from the 1970s Mundhra scandal to the 2008 Kingfisher case.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took to the floor of the Lok Sabha on Tuesday to level a fresh set of allegations against the Congress party, claiming that the opposition has been complicit in a chain of banking irregularities that began with the Mundhra scandal of the 1970s and culminated in the 2008 Kingfisher airline case.
Sitharaman cited the Mundhra case, where the Central Bank of India was accused of providing large loans to a group of companies linked to the Congress leadership, and the Kingfisher incident, where the airline’s collapse exposed irregularities in its financial dealings. She argued that these episodes demonstrate a pattern of misuse of banking institutions by Congress members.
The opposition responded by calling the remarks “unsubstantiated” and demanding evidence. Congress spokespersons said the allegations were a political ploy aimed at diverting attention from the government’s own financial policies.
The accusations come at a time when the government is under scrutiny for its handling of the banking sector’s non-performing assets. Analysts suggest that the move could intensify the already tense political climate ahead of the upcoming general elections.
Sitharaman cited the Mundhra case, where the Central Bank of India was accused of providing large loans to a group of companies linked to the Congress leadership, and the Kingfisher incident, where the airline’s collapse exposed irregularities in its financial dealings. She argued that these episodes demonstrate a pattern of misuse of banking institutions by Congress members.
The opposition responded by calling the remarks “unsubstantiated” and demanding evidence. Congress spokespersons said the allegations were a political ploy aimed at diverting attention from the government’s own financial policies.
The accusations come at a time when the government is under scrutiny for its handling of the banking sector’s non-performing assets. Analysts suggest that the move could intensify the already tense political climate ahead of the upcoming general elections.