New Delhi, March 7: Former Union Finance Minister and Congress leader, P Chidambaram on Saturday said that the State Bank of India's rescue plan for crisis-hit Yes Bank was "bizarre". Targetting the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government, P Chidambaram said the SBI's rescue plan for Yes Bank looked like "command performances". "The SBI plan of purchasing a bank with zero net value at Rs 10 per share is bizarre when the bank's net worth is perhaps 0," he said. Yes Bank Founder Rana Kapoor Taken to Enforcement Directorate Office For Questioning.

"I don't get the impression that SBI was a volunteer in the rescue act. Just as LIC wasn't for IDBI. These are command performances," Chidambaram added. His comments came hours after SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar said that the public sector lender prepares to infuse Rs 2,450 crore to pick 49 per cent stake in Yes Bank. Under the Yes Bank Ltd Reconstruction Scheme 2020 issued by the RBI a day earlier, the authorised capital for the reconstituted bank will be Rs 5,000 crore. SBI to Acquire Up to 49% Stake in Crisis-Hit Yes Bank, Says Chairman Rajnish Kumar.

Reacting to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's allegation that the crisis in Yes Bank originated on Congress watch, Chidambaram said: "Sometimes when I listen to the Finance Minister, I feel the UPA is still in power, I am still the finance minister and she is the opposition." "Obviously if you mismanage, you will lurch from one crisis to another," the Congress leader shot back at Sitharaman who mocked him as a "self-appointed competent doctor".

The RBI has suspended Yes Bank’s board and imposed a withdrawal limit of Rs 50,000 on its account holders till April 3. Former SBI Chief Financial Officer Prashant Kumar was appointed administrator of Yes Bank on Thursday. Yesterday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the restructuring plan for Yes Bank will be implemented within 30 days.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 07, 2020 04:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).