Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil rebuts Solapur DCC Bank loan charges at Akluj meeting of supporters

Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil, former chairman of the Solapur District Central Cooperative Bank, has responded to the charges made by his opponents. He said, "When I was chairman of the Solapur District Central Cooperative Bank, I had no private sugar factory. I had not taken a single rupee in loan for any of my institutions. Opponents spread the false propaganda that Mohite-Patil misused the chairman's post to take loans worth hundreds of crores for his factory and institutions and did not repay them, and that this is why the DCC Bank fell into bad shape."

A meeting of leaders and workers from Solapur district was held at the Shivratna bungalow in Akluj. Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil set out his position on the bank's functioning there. Leaders and workers from different talukas of the district attended, including MP Dhairyasheel Mohite-Patil.

Ranjitsinh said, "To put the politics of Solapur district back on track, I will go to the doors of all the leaders and workers of the district, without any ego. I have phoned everyone. Seeing the district's present politics, everyone hopes for change. We are getting a better response than we expected."

The election process of the Solapur District Central Cooperative Bank is under way. Meanwhile, former MLA Ranjitsinh and MP Dhairyasheel have stepped up political activity in the district. Along with answering the opponents' charges, preparations for the cooperative sector election have also begun.

Workers of the Mohite-Patil camp from every taluka of the district came to the meeting. They demanded that Ranjitsinh come forward in active politics, travel across the district to unite leaders and workers, and restore the district's old glory.

Some leaders said Solapur's politics has been spoiled by the interference of leaders from outside the district. According to them, the politics of distributing money, pressure of power, repression and poaching has soured the atmosphere. The leaders and workers said the Mohite-Patils should take the initiative to rebuild dialogue and unity in the district.

MLA Abhijit Patil, speaking on the bank's functioning, criticised the role of the administrator. He said, "The government appointed an administrator on the bank to improve its condition. But this administrator ignored the interests of farmers and gave loans to industries at the behest of leaders. This has broken the district's cooperative sector and increased privatisation. To save cooperation, we will all come together and fight this election." He also used the saying "the fence itself ate the field."

Giving an account of his tenure as chairman, Ranjitsinh said, "I became chairman of the bank in 2005, when the bank did not have a Reserve Bank licence. I worked to obtain it. Before I became chairman, the bank had deposits of Rs 1,503 crore. During my tenure they rose to Rs 2,962 crore."

He added, "I took the DCC Bank to rural areas. I distributed loans to farmers on a large scale. I began lending for buying tractors and for homes. I held the Keshar Mati exhibition in Pandharpur and got two and a half lakh farmers insured."

"Before my tenure the bank's investments stood at Rs 412 crore. I took them up to Rs 1,210 crore. Before I became chairman, loans of Rs 1,633 crore had been given to farmers. During my tenure this rose to Rs 2,155 crore," he also said.

Those present at the meeting included senior leaders Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil, Laxmanrao Dhobale, Dhanaji Sathe, MP Dhairyasheel Mohite-Patil, Vasantnana Deshmukh, Shivanand Patil, Savitadevi Raje Bhosale, Devanand Bagal, Bharat Shinde, Dattatray Magar, Devanand Gund-Patil, Balasaheb Patil, Aniket Deshmukh, Aniruddha Kamble, Vishwas Barbole, Prathamesh Mhetre, Mahesh Talekar and Dashrath Kamble. Hundreds of workers from every taluka of Solapur district were also there.

The Shivratna bungalow in Akluj is the residence of the Mohite-Patil family. The aim of the meeting was to resolve the dispute within the Mahayuti in the Madha Lok Sabha constituency and the 2026 elections. Dhairyasheel Mohite-Patil got a candidature from the NCP (SP) in 2024 and joined the Sharad Pawar camp, while Ranjitsinh stayed in the BJP. Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil is their father. He is a former deputy chief minister and former MP from Madha, and is close to Sharad Pawar.