Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday blamed the Congress for the dissolution of the board of directors of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank.
He said the dissolution was a “politically motivated” decision by the Congress to defame the NCP.
The Nationalist Congress Party leader said that the financial condition of the bank was not bad enough to necessitate the appointment of administrators.
“The decision was taken by Congress to defame the NCP,” he alleged.
The bank was controlled mostly by NCP leaders and Mr Ajit Pawar was a director.
The RBI dissolved the board and appointed an administrator for the bank on Saturday because of the dire financial situation. Meanwhile, Union agriculture minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar held a meeting with Mr Ajit Pawar and R.R. Patil to discuss the future of the bank.
Later, Mr Patil said that the present board of directors (now dissolved) could not be held responsible for the bank’s condition.
However, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) said that appointment of administrator on the State Cooperative Bank should not be made a political issue, and it was not comparable to the Adarsh Society scam. MPCC president Manikrao Thakre said the RBI’s action was a follow-up on the report by Nabard.
“Nabard comes under the purview of Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar. Even he has not said that there is a political design behind the dissolution of the board of directors,” Mr Thakre said.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday demanded that Ajit Pawar should resign taking responsibility for the financial crisis in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank. “Mr Chavan was forced to quit after the Adarsh Society scam. So many alleged irregularities committed by Mr Pawar are coming to light these days,” said Uddhav.