Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis sends defamation notice to Manikrao Thakre

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday sent a defamation notice to former state Congress chief Manikrao Thakre for his allegation that the government was favouring private sector lender Axis Bank, where Fadnavis's wife works.

Fadnavis sent the notice through advocate Ganesh Sovani for "baseless allegation regarding Axis Bank-SRA issue", an official in the Chief Minister's Office said on Friday.

Thakre had alleged at a press conference in Nagpur two days ago that the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SR), headed by the Chief Minister, had made it mandatory for hundreds of SRA scheme developers to open accounts with Axis Bank, thus providing it with a huge business. Thakre asked why a scheduled or a nationalised bank was not chosen for the government scheme.

Amruta Fadnavis, the Chief Minister's wife, works as a Deputy Vice President (Transactional Banking) at Axis Bank and is posted at its central office in Worli in south Mumbai.

"It is surprising to note...why only one branch of Axis Bank at Worli was chosen by the department," Thakre had said.

BJP, however, had pointed out that the previous Congress-led government too had chosen Axis Bank for various purposes, while a bank spokesperson had said it had a long-standing relationship with several central and state government departments.