Pressure mounted on Maharashtra Minister for Co-operation Subhash Deshmukh to put in his papers over the seizure of Rs 91.5 lakh cash from a car belonging to a co-operative bank promoted by him, as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday joined the clamour for his dismissal from the State Cabinet and also demanded an enquiry into the black money allegedly possessed by him.
A day after the Opposition Congress and NCP demanded Deshmukh’s ouster from the State Cabinet, AAP’s spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon said that with as much as Rs 9,000 crore belonging to farmers and other citizens in the rural areas locked in co-operative banks across the State because of the demonetisation, it would be disastrous if Co-operative Minister to continue in the post.
A hard cash of Rs 91.5 lakh — comprising scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes — was seized by the flying squad of the officials monitoring the local body polls from a car belonging to lokmangal co-operative bank at Umerga in Osmanabad district on Wednesday.
On his part, Deshmukh said, “On November 5, the money was taken out from the main branch of the lokmangal bank at Solapur. It was meant for distribution of salaries among the sugarcane cutting labourers.”
“I agree that keeping such a huge chunk of money was an irregularity. I am ready to suffer whatever punishment that is handed to me by the Government,” he added.