Bassein Bank: Campaign intensifies; allegations & their counters float

Ahead of elections of Bassein Catholic Cooperative Bank, the candidates are busy wooing voters by making tall promises like construction of new head office, shifting CBS platform to oracle, setting up of a well-equipped community centre for the members of the bank and many others.

The final list after withdrawal has come out on Thursday and 79 candidates are left in the fray for the elections of 21 seats on the board of directors of the bank. The elections are slated for 12th June.

In the elections, three different panels and many independent candidates are trying their luck to win the election. They are busy wooing the voters by organizing door-to-door campaigns. Some of them have launched a massive campaign on social media and their Facebook posts are a big hit among the users.

If Ekta Panel is being headed by the former Chairman of the bank, Onil Almeida the candidates from another Janhit Panel are fighting the elections under the leadership of outgoing Chairman Ryan Fernandes. Besides, Sachin Pereira, then Chairman of the bank is leading the Parivartan Panel from the front.

Meanwhile, the Parivartan Panel has released their manifesto which is mainly focused on bringing in transparency in the working and administration of the bank, so as to ensure the safety of depositors’ funds and amend the bye-laws of the bank for increasing the number of reserved seats for women members on the board.

The process of allegations and counter-allegations has started. Talking to Indian Cooperative, one of the candidates from Ekta Panel and outgoing director Yuri Gonsalves said, “If our team will come again in power then we will make efforts in controlling the NPA as well the process of construction of the new building will be started”.

It is being reported that the seven candidates are standing from the constituency of outgoing Chairman Ryan Fernandes but only two are to be elected. The outgoing Chairman has also released a video on Social Media in which he listed out the achievements done in the bank during his tenure.

The bank board comprises 21 elected directors out of which 16 are from the general category and the rest will be elected from the reserved categories including Women, OBC, SC/ST, and others.

DDR Palghar Housare has been appointed as the returning officer to oversee the election process. The counting of votes will be done on 14th June. The total eligible voters are 80k and 137 polling centers made at different parts of Maharashtra.

The bank’s gross business stood at Rs 11,960 crore and Net NPA was 1.55 percent as of 31st March 2021. The cooperative bank has 77 ATMs in Maharashtra, which include 13 offsite ATMs.