SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya faces breach of privilege notice in Maharashtra assembly for insulting farmers and House

The Congress submitted a breach of privilege notice against SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya on Friday for "insulting farmers and the House" through her remarks on loan waiver. The leader of opposition in the Maharashtra assembly, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said he has submitted the notice to speaker Haribhau Bagde as "Bhattacharya did not apologise for her remarks despite the Congress' demand."

The senior Congress leader said he has described Bhattacharya's comments as "insulting to farmers, elected representatives and the House" in the notice.

The opposition Congress and NCP have been demanding a complete loan waiver for farmers by raising the issue in the legislature. The SBI chief had recently said that farm loan waivers upset credit discipline.

"We feel that in case of a (farm) loan waiver, there is always a fall in credit discipline because the people who get the waiver have expectations of future waivers as well. Such future loans often remain unpaid," Bhattacharya had said on sidelines of an event here on Wednesday.

Vikhe Patil said, "Bhattacharya is not a policy-maker and she cannot take a decision regarding loan waivers to farmers. She had no right to make such comments."

He alleged that the SBI chief's remarks were "violation of the rights of the legislature which make laws." Meanwhile, the notice by the Congress did not come up in the House due to repeated disruptions over the demand for the loan waiver. The state Assembly witnessed four adjournments amid uproar, before it was adjourned for the day.