The BJP and the Congress on Monday accused each other of helping Vijay Mallya. The ruling party dragged in former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then Finance Minister P Chidambaram alleging that the “corrupt hands” that helped the absconding liquor baron get bank loans belonged to them.

Rejecting the charges, both Singh and Chidambaram said it was the ruling party that allowed Mallya to flee abroad overnight.

The BJP also pointed fingers at Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi on the issue.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra asked Sonia and Rahul to explain at whose behest Mallya’s defaulting company got loans. Patra dragged the Congress leadership into the row, alleging that then Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Pulok Chatterjee would “snatch files” from Singh to take it to 10 Janpath, Sonia Gandhi’s residence.

“The hands which pulled the strings to ensure that Mallya received loans are visible now. It belonged to Chidambaram and Singh. Did the hands of 10 Janpath also pull the stringIJ Sonia and Rahul Gandhi should come out in public to say at whose behest the loans were sanctioned to Kingfisher Airline,” he said.

“It was after one such letter Mallya had written to Singh on November 14, 2011 that the Prime Minister told the media that ‘we have to find ways to get Kingfisher out of trouble’,” Patra said.

In another letter, he sought Singh’s intervention to get funds from banks released immediately, the BJP spokesperson said. According to Patra, in one of the letters, Mallya said he was very “relieved” and “pleased”, apparently referring to developments in the interim. A top PMO official had spoken to Ministries concerned following his letter to Singh and Mallya had mentioned it, he said.

Patra cited another letter the liquor baron allegedly wrote to Chidambaram in March 2013, seeking his intervention to get NOC from the SBI, which headed the consortium of banks which had given unrecovered loans to the airline, and its subsidiaries as his liquor company was in talks with Diageo for a deal.

Refuting the charges,  Singh and Chidambaram said it was the NDA that allowed Mallya to flee the country. They told the media that it was a routine thing for captains of industry to write letters to the Government which were marked to appropriate authorities and that they did not violate any law.

“I think what I have done was done with full satisfaction of mind that we were not doing anything which was against law of the land,” Singh said adding all Prime Ministers and other Ministers received representations from the industry.

“In normal course, we pass on these to appropriate authorities. It was a normal, routine transaction and therefore the letter that is being talked about is nothing but an ordinary piece of letter which any government in my position would have dealt with,” Singh said.

Chidambaram, on his part, said hundreds of such representations received by the Government were not dealt with by Ministers themselves. “No Minister can deal with each one of these representations.  They are marked down to departments and officers concerned, who will then take appropriate follow-up action,” he said.

The former FM also said there was “absolutely nothing wrong” if somebody sought some policy changes or wanted forbearance to be shown. “If letter to PMO is marked down to Principal Secretary to PM and Principal Secretary fowards it to department concerned, these are normal,” he claimed.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala asked the ruling party to explain who was responsible for allowing Mallya to escape at a time when the consortium of lenders had moved against him for recovery of over Rs 9,000 crore.

“Was Vijay Mallya tipped off to run away from India by a high ranking official inside the Modi GovernmentIJ” he asked.

Surjewala also claimed BJP supported and voted for Mallya to get him elected to Rajya Sabha in June 2010. He also wanted to know if it was true that the businessman was once the working president of Subramanian Swamy’s Janata Party. Swamy is now in BJP and locked in a legal battle with top Congress leadership including Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case.

“Why did Modi government permit Diageo plc, which now owns United Breweries, make payment of USD 40 Million as part of agreement dated 25.02.2016 as also receive this money in an offshore accountIJ What has action has Modi government taken against Diageo plc and United BreweriesIJ” he asked.

Surjewala said, “Instead of levelling senseless allegations, BJP needs to come forward and answer questions.”