CONG PUTS SHAH ON MAT
Maharashtra's farmers were the worst hit when the RBI in November 2016 stopped district cooperative banks from receiving deposits of banned notes just five days after demonetisation.
As against this, a cooperative bank of Gujarat, which had BJP President Amit Shah on its board, received a rich stack of scrapped notes worth Rs 745.58 crore in five days until November 15
The Congress on Friday upped its ante, demanding a thorough probe into the disclosure made by NABARD (the National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development) under the Right to Information Act, which says that many other cooperative banks controlled by senior BJP leaders had also received abnormally high deposits.
(The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, meanwhile, has clarified that the average deposit amount in the ADCB was Rs 46,795 per account holder, which is lower than the average per depositor in 18 DCBs of the western state of Gujarat.)
Congress President Rahul Gandhi lost no time in taking a dig at the BJP chief with a tweet on Friday morning: "Congratulations Amit Shah ji, Director, Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank, on your bank winning 1st prize in the conversion of old notes to new race. Rs 750 crore in 5 days! Millions of Indians whose lives were destroyed by demonetization, salute your achievement."
The party's chief spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala held a Press conference to release details of the RTI reply and said Rahul stands vindicated for describing demonetisation as the biggest scam of independent India.
The RTI reply dated May 7 shows that the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank, whose directors include Amit Shah and his close associates, received the highest amount of old demonetized notes -- a whopping Rs 745.58 crore in the first five days, between 10.11.2016 and 14.11.2016.
While Shah was the chairman of this bank earlier, it is now headed by his aide and BJP leader Ajay Patel. Shah’s other close associate, Yashpal Chudasma, whose name also appeared in the controversy related to his son Jay Shah, is also a director in the bank. Of the 370 district co-operative banks across the country, none other received such a gigantic sum in five days.
Surjewala demanded at a press conference: "Whose money was this? We had asked the Government to bring out a list of all those who deposited more than Rs 25 lakh just before demonetisation, or soon after that. Why was that not done?"
Alleging that some people were in the know of the demonetisation plan and some others ran a note exchange racket to amass an astronomical amount, Surjewala alleged: "We know how the BJP purchased land and properties in many states just before demonetisation. There is a need for a thorough probe. It is not a political or partisan demand. It is linked to the credibility of the Prime Minister as so much evidence that creates suspicion is on the table."
He said the RTI replies show 11 district cooperative banks in Gujarat headed by BJP leaders together received old notes worth Rs 3118.51 crore within five days.