I had no inkling of the RBI move: Ajit Pawar

Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday said that the management of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank did not have any inkling about the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) decision to dissolve the bank’s board of directors. Pawar was speaking to reporters in Pune after attending a review meeting with the Pune district administration for the preparation of the kharif season.

“We did not have any intimation about the dissolution of the board of directors. Had we come to know, we would have taken measures to prevent such a step,” Pawar said.

The RBI dissolved the board on May 7 due to its dire financial condition. This move ruffled the NCP leadership, as a majority of the directors hail from the party. After the RBI’s decision on the issue, the NCP leaders reacted by saying that the move to dissolve the board of the bank is ‘politically motivated to defame the NCP’.

In reply to a question, Pawar said that that he would be scrutinising the papers of the bank on Wednesday before making any detailed statement to the media on the issue. “As per my information, chairman of the bank Manikrao Patil is examining the documents of the bank today. It would be unwise for me to make any comment on the issue at this juncture,” he added.