New Delhi, Feb 19 (TOI): Keeping up the heat on the BJP government, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "speak up" on the Rs 11,300 crore Punjab National Bank fraud and not behave "as if you are guilty".

The party also asked the government to bring out a white paper on the banking system which it claimed had witnessed scams involving over Rs 61,000 crore in the last five years.

Questioning Modi's silence on the banking scandal involving billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi, Rahul tweeted, "PM Modi tells kids how to pass exams for two hours, but won't speak for two minutes on the 22,000 crore banking scam. Mr Jaitley is in hiding. Stop behaving as if you're guilty! Speak up."

Congress has launched an all-out attack on the BJP regime and Modi, claiming that a fraud of such scale could not have taken place without links to the "highest echelons" of the government.

Party spokesman Manish Tewari demanded a white paper and said, "Bank frauds are tumbling out of the closet faster than you can say Jack Robinson." He said while the "Nirav-Choksi tango" was still going on, reports had emerged about "someone who owns Rotomac has also done something similar".

Tewari claimed that according to RBI data, Rs 61,260 crore of banking frauds had taken place in the last five years of which the BJP-led government had been in power for four years. "The linkages between these alleged fraudsters and the highest echelons of the BJP raise some very serious questions about the health of the Indian economy," he said.

The spokesman said the BJP regime should direct all banks to publish and declare the names of fraudsters and details related to NPAs (non-performing assets). "Around 77% of these NPAs are of leading Indian corporate offices," Tewari said and accused the government of being unable to check NPAs and take care of public money. "It's hilarious that PNBwon the vigilant award for 2016-17," Tewari said.