Mangaluru: Former minister B Ramanatha Rai has urged the general public to oppose the decision of merging Vijaya Bank with Dena and Bank of Baroda, claiming that all these banks are incurring losses.
Speaking to reporters at District Congress office on Monday, September 24 he said, “The union government has been appeasing the corporate entities. The merger of Vijaya Bank with other banks is a classic example for the same. Vijaya Bank is making profits, then why merge it with the banks that are making losses” he questioned.
Informing how Vijaya Bank came into existence in Dakshina Kannada district and its salient features, Rai said, “Vijaya Bank was founded by Attavara Balakrishna Shetty and Mulki Sundaram Shetty was the founder chairman of the Bank. When the Bank was in a loss, the employees of the bank sacrificed their salary until it got success. It has opened its branches in almost all rural areas so as to benefit farmers and others. Despite Vijaya Bank making profits now, Narendra Modi-led union government is now planning to merge it with other banks,” he said urging people to oppose this move.
Placing some statistics on waiving of loans by UPA and BJP government, Rai said, “when UPA government was in power, the loans of poor people waived off stood at Rs 72,000 crore. Instead of waiving the loans of poor people, the BJP government has waived off the loans of corporate companies to the tune of Rs 2 lakh crore. These figures clearly show how the government favors the corporate entities and how it stands against the poor.”
Country faces undeclared emergency
“There is an `undeclared emergency` in the country which is more dangerous than the one declared by former prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1975. As the Lok Sabha election is fast approaching, the BJP is raising the issue of Ram Mandir and is trying to convert its vote bank. Instead of taking the opinion of the masses, Narendra Modi is acting like a dictator by taking unilateral decisions,” he said.
Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) Mayor Bhaskar Moily, Zilla Panchayath member Mamatha Gatti and other leaders like Vishwas Kumar Das, Kavitha Sanil, Sadashiv Ullal, Baby Kunder, Appi among others were present.
