Nirav Modi did not have any private meeting with PM Modi at Davos, clarifies BJP

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has hit out at the Congress for claiming that billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi, allegedly involved in the multi-crore Punjab National Bank scam, had a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Davos. Dismissing the claims, Ravi Shankar Prasad said: "Nirav Modi did not meet PM Modi at Davos. Nirav Modi had arrived in Davos on his own and was present at CII group photo event," Prasad said.

Hitting out at the Congress, he said that the party should end playing politics over photographs. "Many good and cosy photographs of many of the Congress leaders with Mehul Choksi is available with us, but we don't want to stoop to that level," he added.

His statement comes after Congress President Rahul Gandhi claimed that Nirav Modi was in Davis with the Prime Minister. Rahul had tweeted: "Guide to Looting India by Nirav MODI
1.  Hug PM Modi
2.  Be seen with him in DAVOS
Use that clout to:
A. Steal 12,000Cr 
B. Slip out of the country like Mallya, while the Govt looks the other way.

The Congress has also alleged that a whistleblower had alerted the government in 2016 about the banking fraud by Nirav Modi but the Prime Minister and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley ignored the tip. "What does the Prime Minister do? Nothing. What does the Finance Ministry do? Nothing. What does the Corporate Affairs Ministry do? Nothing. What does the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Finance Ministry do? Nothing," Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.

Calling Nirav "chhota Modi", he added that he was part of a delegation travelling with Prime Minister Modi despite "the complaint against him". The BJP has called the jibe derogatory and demeaning.