Ahead of the elections of Maharashtra-based Vasai Janata Sahakari Bank, allegations and counter-allegations among candidates have begun. The RSS leaning Panel is making an all-out effort to regain a foothold in the bank from the hands of leaders associated with Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi (BVA). The elections are slated for 19th June 2022.
It bears recalling that the leaders with the RSS leaning had played an important role in the establishment of the bank in the past but later it’s control went to the leaders of Bahujan Vikas Aghadi.
In the elections, there are two panels in the race. One is the Utkarsha panel which is being headed by the outgoing President Mahesh Desai and his associates and another is the Janata Sahakari Panel, which is led by the leaders with the RSS ideology.
“We are contesting elections to end their supremacy and if we get elected, we will run the bank in the public interest”, said opposition candidate Dilip Joshi who is leading the Janata Sahakari panel to Indian Cooperative. Joshi is challenging the Utkarsha panel, which is in command as of now.
Commenting on this, the outgoing Chairman Mahesh Desai said, “It is wrong to say that we are running the agenda of BVA. The cooperatives are not working on party lines. Our motto is to strengthen the bank so that the objective of helping the downtrodden people of society can be fulfilled”.
Joshi alleges that the outgoing board has not done anything about the bank’s growth. Rejecting his accusation, Desai said, “When I had taken charge of the bank as Chairman, the deposits and advances were Rs 193 crore and Rs 114 crore respectively but now it has increased to Rs 725 crore and Rs 365 crore respectively.
“The bank business mix has gone more than Rs 1,000 crore. In our 12-year tenure, we have faced so many challenges due to unfavourable market conditions but we are feeling proud to say that our Net NPA is Zero when other banks are grappling with higher NPA levels”, he added.
Apart from allegations and counter-allegations, Desai emphasized his future strategy and said, “If our team gets elected again, we will apply for ‘Scheduled bank status’ and aim to take the business mix to more than Rs 1500 crore. We are also planning to introduce easy banking by bringing advanced technology into our activities”.
The bank board comprises 15 directors out of which 10 are from the general category, 2 reserved for Women, 1 for OBC, 1 for Schedule Caste, and 1 for Schedule tribes. Out of 15 seats, the elections will be held for 14 seats because one seat has gone unopposed. The total number of voters is over 19k.