Have become a political football between two major Indian political parties as evident in election speeches: Vijay Mallya

New Delhi: Vijay Mallya, the beleaguered liquor baron who co-owns the Force India Formula One team, said on Wednesday that Indian authorities had no grounds to extradite him from Britain and he would not be leaving.

He also said that he had become a "political football" between the two major Indian political parties as they campaigned in state elections.

"The government-owned banks are trying to hold me personally responsible for the failure of India's largest airline and to repay their debts," Mallya told Reuters in an interview at the launch of his team's 2017 car. 

"Recovery of loans made to a PLC is a purely civil matter. The central bureau of investigation, at the behest of the government, converted it into a criminal matter. And then charges of defrauding banks and money-laundering appeared. 

"I will be and am severely contesting all this, legally. I firmly believe they have absolutely no case against me whatsoever."

Mallya said he had become a "political football" between the two major Indian political parties as they campaigned in state elections.

Very unfortunate that Indian media do not share pride that an Indian entry into Formula 1 is so successful. Only focussed on blasting me, he also tweeted.

Businessman Vijay Mallya, who is wanted in India for Rs 9,000 crore loan default, was on Wednesday seen at an event in UK promoting a new Formula One car launched by his team Sahara Force India.

A relaxed Mallya, looking dapper in a suit, was seen with his two drivers Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon in a photograph uploaded by official Formula One website 

The new car of his F1 team was launched today at Silverstone.

Fugitive Mallya has been on the radar of the Indian agencies for a long time now and the government has been in talks with the UK government for his extradition over charges of multi-crore loan default by a consortium of Indian banks.

With inputs from Reuters