NDA jibes at Congress for poor performance in UP polls

Replying to a supplementary during Question Hour as to whether the state government proposed to withdraw its deposits from banks where disbursal of loans to people in Bihar was inadequate, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav said it was the Centre's duty to act against such banks.

"It has been due to its ignorance of just demands of the states that the electoral fortunes of the Congress nosedived in UP so much so that two-thirds of its candidates lost deposits," Yadav said provoking a rebuttal by senior Congress MLA Sadanand Singh.

Singh, a former assembly Speaker, asked the parliamentary affairs minister not to rejoice at the Congress's performance, but to do some introspection as the Janata Dal-United failed to win even a single seat in UP.

Yadav, a senior JD-U leader, said his party had no stakes in UP. Nor did it have a 'yuvraj' to boost its electoral prospects, he said in an obvious reference to the Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi.

Yadav said the state government has written to the Centre about the public sector banks for poor disbursal of loans in Bihar, but its grievances have not been paid due attention. It was the duty of the Central government to act against the public sectors banks for ignoring its guidelines on loan disbursal, Yadav said.

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