Rs 1,919 crores is stuck in 32,000 accounts in various Yes Bank branches in Himachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Jairam Thakur announced on Thursday.
Speaking in the Vidhan Sabha, Thakur castigated the opposition Congress for creating an atmosphere of “fear and panic” among the people.
“Please do not play politics on sensitive issues like coronavirus or the Yes Bank crisis,” he said.
Thakur stated the total amount of deposits of the Himachal Government as well as private depositors in the crisis-hit bank in the assembly.
On Wednesday, Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri had said that a large sum of money of the Himachal government was stuck in Yes Bank deposits. He had sought a clarification from the government on why the money was deposited in Yes Bank when there were several nationalised banks.
Thakur said that a sum of Rs 1,349 crore was deposited in Yes Bank during the Congress regime before December 31, 2017, and Rs 1,244 crore was deposited by the BJP government.
“I urge people not to panic or create fear as the Government of India has assured that the depositor’s money is safe and an administrator has been appointed to resolve the matter,” he added.
Thakur said Rs 1,375 crore of the Himachal Pradesh Cooperative Bank, Rs 499 crore of the Kangra Central Cooperative Bank (KCCB), Rs 304 crore of the HP Infrastructure Development Board, Rs 36.80 crore of the HP Power Corporation Ltd and Rs 379 of Smart City Dharamshala had been deposited in Yes Bank.
The chief minister also hit back at Agnihotri by stating that it was wrong on his part to allege that Yes bank was “promoted” by the government.
“The only reason why the previous Congress regime and then our BJP government made deposits in Yes Bank was probably due to the higher rate of interest,” he said.
The issue led to a lot uproar when the CM said the owner and founder of Yes bank, Rana Kapoor, had paid Rs two crore to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for a painting.
“Do I need to say more as to who promoted Yes Bank,” said Thakur.
Agnihotri shot back by stating that the BJP should reveal as to who paid Rs 10 crore for PM Modi’s suit and why Nirav Modi was allowed to flee the country.