Banking crisis: Hindus in danger in true sense, says Cong neta

Mumbai: With some private-sector lenders including Yes Bank facing a liquidity crisis, the Congress on Saturday said Hindus are in danger in a “true sense” under the Narendra Modi government and claimed that majority of the hassled account-holders belonged to the majority community.

Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant has claimed that funds worth Rs 545 crore of Lord Jagannath Temple of Odisha are deposited in the crisis-hit Yes Bank. “Even Gods are in danger on the Centre’s watch,” he added.

The RBI on Thursday imposed a moratorium on Yes Bank for a period of one month and capped the withdrawal limit at Rs 50,000 after the cash-starved lender faced “regular outflow of liquidity” following an effort to raise new capital failed.

“While the BJP and its affiliated organisations talk about ‘Hindus being in danger’ for the lowly polarising politics, the Hindus are in danger on Modi government’s watch in a true sense.

“The money in banks is of majority Hindus which is not safe now. Several families have been ruined. Only the Modi government is responsible for it,” Sawant said in a statement.

Sawant also referred to the alleged Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank scam, saying some people even died while worrying over the stuck money.

The Congress leader alleged that fugitives like Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya had “looted” money which belonged to majority Hindus.

Sawant said Yes Bank has a total of 18238 staffers and claimed that almost all of them are Hindus whose jobs are now under threat.

He further said as many as 109 banks from Maharashtra are in trouble as their deposits are stuck in Yes Bank.

Referring to the Vadodara Smart City Development Company withdrawing Rs 265 crore from Yes Bank a day before the RBI imposed the moratorium, Sawant said this shows Prime Minister Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah being worried only about Gujarat and not the country.

He said the BJP-led Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation in Maharashtra has Rs 905 crore deposited in Yes Bank, but it was allegedly not informed by the Modi-Shah duo.