Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], Oct 16 (ANI): After as many as two Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank customers died owing to "stress" over the restrictions imposed by the Reserve Bank of India, protestors have urged the people of Maharashtra to choose 'NOTA' option in the upcoming assembly elections.
"I appeal everyone to choose NOTA (None Of The Above) option in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly election. Even the Chief Minister has said that we will talk about the matter after October 21. On the other hand, the Prime Minister is busy cleaning. What should we do? Have we chosen him only for cleanliness?" one of the protesters outside Esplanade Court, Anil Mittal told ANI on Wednesday.
PMC Bank account holders have been protesting ever since the RBI imposed several restrictions on the bank, including a withdrawal limit after multiple discrepancies were revealed in an audit.
"Nobody is caring about the issue right now. Today, it's one bank, tomorrow many more will follow. What will happen then? We have lost faith. Not even a single politician has taken a stand on this matter. When people vote NOTA, it will represent their protest," said another protester.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Prakash Javdekar has said that this is not an election issue but it must be ensured that people don't lose their money. He also hit out at Congress and NCP, blaming them for the bank crisis.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had also said that he will take up the issue with the central government soon.
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As many as two PMC Bank customers died within 24 hours, including one Fattomal Punjabi and a 51-year-old former employee of Jet Airways named Sanjay Gulati.
Their families have alleged that they were "under stress" over the crisis in PMC Bank.
The RBI has also enhanced the withdrawal limit for depositors to Rs 40,000, whereas the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized and identified movable and immovable assets worth more than Rs 3,830 crores owned by Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) in connection with the PMC Bank case.
According to the police, PMC bank officials gave loans to HDIL between 2008 and 2019 despite no repayment of the previous loans. Joy Thomas, the former managing director of PMC Bank, is already in police custody.