NCP to raise Maharashtra CM’s SRA account order in House

Even as chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has sent a defamation notice to Congress leader Digvijay Singh over his tweets alleging nepotism over preference given to Axis Bank, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has said that it would raise this issue in the ongoing Assembly session.

This comes after Mr Singh on Saturday tweeted ‘height of nepotism’ referring to the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA)’s directive for developers to open accounts only with a particular bank, where the wife of Mr Fadnavis, Amruta Fadnavis, works.

The SRA, which is headed by Mr Fadnavis in its December 2015, circular, had asked developers to open account with the Worli Branch of Axis Bank.

The account is for developers who have taken up projects in the SRA scheme and for which it also pays rent to the slum dwellers who have been shifted owing to the redevelopment being undertaken at their original residence.

“When the Congress and NCP were in power, we also used the services of Axis Bank, but we never bluntly ordered state government officials to give directives regarding choosing one particular bank. It is very shocking that the state government is asking government officials to give preference to one particular bank. We used to maintain accounts in various banks. Various civic bodies, being government bodies, should always prefer nationalised banks over private banks,” said Sachin Ahir, NCP leader and former state housing minister.

However, earlier in February, the chief minister’s officer (CMO) had issued a statement after the Opposition had levied same allegations of giving preference to Axis Bank, saying that the chief minister’s wife, Amruta Fadnavis, is an officer in Axis Bank’s Lower Parel branch in the corporate section. She handles back office and has no target to achieve. A defamation suit will be filed against those who are making such baseless allegations. It further said that the previous UPA government itself had given permission to appoint one of the banks among Axis, HDFC and ICICI.

Earlier in February, Mr Fadnavis had issued a defamation notice to Congress leader Manikrao Thakre for making allegations of nepotism after the state government asked beneficiaries of the SRA scheme to open bank accounts only with Axis Bank. Mr Fadnavis’ wife is a senior employee of the Axis Bank.

The chief minister has demanded an unconditional apology in 15 days or else threatened criminal proceedings against the Congress leader.