The whistleblower story on the PMC bank scam that was broken on Republic TV in 2019 has been picked up by the Lutyens media now.
Even one of the digital media platforms has lined up a panel discussion on the scam this evening.
Why discuss this story now when it was broken in 2019?
Is it to divert the attention from the vasooli scam to the PMC crisis to save the Maha Vikas Aghadi government from falling? Or, is it to target BJP in the runup to Uttar Pradesh elections next year?
In fact, the MVA government is running in three different directions as the fissures among the partners have deepened with the axing of NCP leader Anil Deshmukh as home minister in the vasooli scam.
The NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, it is learnt is gunning to scalp one of the Shiv Sena ministers in the vasooli scam.
Therefore, the sold out media is performing its PR duty to launch a tirade in the garb of RBI against the BJP in PMC bank scam to divert people’s attention from vasooli scam.
Take it from us. They will cover up the shortcomings of their darling netas and RBI governors and subtly target the current RBI chief Shaktikant Das for belated action against the culprits and settling of money belonging to depositors.
The Scam Background
Before we delve into the details of the scam, it is necessary to understand what this scam is all about.
This is a case of the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank which was put under scrutiny by the RBI for fraud and misreporting of bad loans.
The bank is accused of giving nearly 73 per cent of its total loans to realty firm HDIL.
It gave loans to HDIL, between 2008 and 2019, despite its directors Wadhwans had defaulted on previous loans. Both Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan were arrested by the Mumbai Police.
HDIL-Neta Nexus
The Directors of HDIL have deep connections with Maharashtra netas belonging to the Congress, Shiv Sena, NCP and BJP netas. They doled out favors to them, gifted houses to several Congress and NCP netas at posh Mumbai locations.
The Wadhwans allowed NCP leader and then Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel to use their luxury private jets Bombardier Challenger 300 on eight occasions.
They also are accused of illegally and fraudulently transferring their assets to the companies owned by former Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde’s daughter and son-in-law to a lower price without the consent of the majority shareholder Mack Star Marketing Private Limited.
The assets of the Shinde’s daughter and son-in-law worth over Rs 35 crore were attached by the ED.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut’s wife Varsha also is allegedly involved in the scam. The ED had summoned Varsha for questioning in the case.
Weak Allegation
The name of a BJP neta also cropped up in the scam.
Ranjneet Singh, son of a BJP strongman, was director of the bank, and the Congress have been targeting him for doling out loans.
This allegation sounds empty as the BJP has already punished him by not giving him and his father a ticket to fight elections. One cannot expect the BJP to imprison him. It is after all investigating agencies’ jobs.
The False Hero
Amidst all this, the Lutyens Jamaat is still making former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan a hero out of zero. It was during his tenure, between September 5, 2013 to September 2016, the money laundering was taking place.
The PMC scam was unearthed as early as January 2011 by way of a letter written to RBI. Rajan received the letter and did not do anything concrete. Any concrete action was taken only during the current governorship of Shaktikanta Das.
So, get ready for the next bout of tamasha carried out by the Lutyens Jamaat to either save the wobbly Maharashtra government or atack BJP in the runup to Uttar Pradesh elections.
Jai Hind.
