Mumbai: The Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank scam has again drawn attention of the masses towards corruption. The alleged Rs 4,355 crore fraud by management of the bank has left thousands of depositors in the lurch. Bankrupt realty firm HDIL’s promoters Rakesh Wadhwan and Sarang Wadhawan are the key accused and have been remanded to judicial custody by Economic Offences Wing (EOW) till October 9. They’ve been charged with fraud, cheating, criminal conspiracy and falsification of accounts.
The Congress has seized this opportunity to gain some political brownie points and has alleged that 12 directors of PMC Bank also have links with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Grand Old Party states that Ranjeet Singh, son of four-time BJP MLA Sardar Tara Singh, is one of the co-directors of the bank and was also on the board of the realty firm behind the scam – HDIL.
These are the scams that Congress has associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Anganwadi Scam: This Rs 12.,000 crore scam lists Women and Child Development Minister Pankaja Munde as the key accused. The scam resulted from irregularities in issuing tenders for the purchase and supply of Take Home Ration for Anganwadi Centres to favour certain companies.
Land Scam: The land scam is attributed to the current Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Congress claims that this scam had the blessings of Fadnavis as he heads the Urban Development Department. It is said that 24 acres of prime land belonging to CIDCO in Khargar area of Navi Mumbai was sold to Paradise Builders for a paltry amount of Rs 3.60 crore.
Slum Rehabilitation Scam: Housing Minister Prakash Mehta is said to be connected to this scam which involved the Minister favouring a builder. Mehta is reported to have went out of his way to expand the scope of the Ghatkopar transit camp project and convert it into a larger slum redevelopment scheme. If this move would’ve been successful, the Congress claims it could have given a benefit of Rs 1,000 crore to the developer.
Apart from these major scams, the Congress has listed the Water Project Scam, Drugs Scam, Fire Extinguisher Scam, Chikki Scam and Tea Scam among others.
