Advani asks UPA to bring back money from Swiss banks

Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate L K Advani asked the Manmohan Singh government Sunday to make all efforts to bring back the huge amount of money holed up in the Swiss banks and other tax heavens.

Raising the issue of black money of Indians lying in Swiss banks, Advani asked the UPA government to take necessary steps to nail the guilty people and bring back the money to India so as to use it in poverty eradication and development works. He advised Dr. Singh to raise the issue at G-20 summit he is going to attend on Thursday.

The prime minister should persuade the Swiss and other authorities to disclose the names of hoarders of Indian money abroad, since it amounted to a huge loss to the exchequer, he said.

“If the UPA government fails to do that, we will bring back that black money and utilise it for the people’s cause, if we voted to power,” said the BJP leader.

He said Swiss banks had earlier maintained secrecy about the people and the money kept by them at their banks. However, that law was changed recently and now they are obliged to disclose the details if the government agency of a country demands.

Quoting Wikipedia, which he described as the most credible source of information, Advani said Indians dominate the list of the people who has kept black money in Swiss banks. In 2007, the total money held by Indians in Swiss banks was estimated at $5.7 billion, almost doubles the $2.6 billion in 2001.

Asked what his government, if voted to power, would do with such huge amount of money to be brought home, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate said his government would open internet-enabled schools in all villages, provide a network of all-weather roads in the country up to the level of villages, provision of telemedicine facilities and potable drinking water for all and many more.

Advani also circulated copies of the letter, he said, he had sent to the Prime Minister in May last year, suggesting India get from the German government confidential data about those Swiss bank accounts.

He also circulated a letter he received in response from the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram, saying his government had already written to the German tax office in February 2008 to share information on Indian tax payers with it. In the March, the Germans said they were not in a position to immediately divulge this information, but would do so as soon as they had detailed findings about whether and to what extent Indian taxpayers were involved, Advani said quoting Chidambaram.

Earlier, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat had raised the issued two weeks ago and in its election manifesto referred to the need to expose money in Swiss banks. Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav also raised the issue two days ago at a press conference calling on the party to make it one of the election issues.