Bank row: NCP eager to teach Congress a lesson

As a fallout of the dissolution of the administrative board of Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank by the Reserve Bank of India, the Nationalist Congress Party is eager to teach its ally, Congress, a lesson.

Speaker after speaker who had gathered at the Y B Chavan Centre in Mumbai for a party meet on Thursday, tried to paint a picture that the Congress was trying to target Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and cut him to size.

NCP has dominated the bank's board for several years and is annoyed at being wrested out of its control.

Although officially the leaders had gathered to discuss, among other things, the Samajik Parivartan Rally to be held at Somaiya Ground in Mumbai on June 10, the occasion was used by the leaders to spew venom on its ally.

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All the speakers expressed their displeasure over the dissolution of the MSCB and strongly urged the leadership to teach the Congress a lesson. Shakshikant Shinde, the MLA from Satara urged the leadership to be prepared with a counter attack on its ally.

Ajit Pawar assured the party that there were no irregularities in the functioning of the bank. Addressing the party members Pawar reportedly said that Congress leader's textile mills are leading defaulters on MSC Bank.

He went on to remark that the state Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan was heading for a function in which he would be handing out an award to one such textile mill which is a defaulter. Pawar questioned the wisdom behind awarding the defaulting textile mill.

Senior leaders of NCP were also miffed by the CM Chavan's barb that NCP did not own the bank and remarked that it was akin to rubbing salt on wound.

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One senior NCP leader reportedly said that the CM Chavan has got his 'position as a gift from above' and does not realise the significance of running a coalition government.

"On the same lines, the government is also not owned by the Congress. It seems that they are conveniently forgetting that NCP is also part of the government. We will now ensure that they do no become dominant," said a senior leader.

Congress leader Hussain Dalwai rubbished the reports of growing rift between the two allies in the state.

"The dissolution of the bank was taken by the RBI and the state government had nothing to do with it. The Congress and the NCP share healthy relationship both at the state and at the central government as well," said Dalwai.

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The NCP politicians who controlled the apex co-operative bank in the state are also heading the sugar co-operatives in their homes towns.

The bank's board was dissolved following a report by National Bank for Agriculture and Development which found that the bank had large sums of non-performing assets which were being concealed from the minor stakeholders.

Besides, the report also highlights the lack of transparency in disbursement of loans as firms and individuals with poor repayments records have been repeatedly given loans.