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Krishna Kumar has criticised AIBOA General Secretary S. Nagrajan over his handling of organisational affairs, alleging that his leadership decisions have weakened the organisation and caused a significant decline in its membership.
In a post on X, Kumar said that Nagrajan became the General Secretary of AIBOA in 2011 with the support of CHV, despite the OBC Bank unit being the largest unit of AIBOA at that time. According to Kumar, AIBOA had more than 40,000 members in public sector banks in 2011, while the faction led by Nagrajan now has around 12,000 members in public sector banks.
Kumar described Nagrajan as a learned person and a good speaker but alleged that he has been a weak organisational leader.
Kumar also recalled events surrounding the 2016 AIBOA conference in Hyderabad. He alleged that efforts were made to prevent him from becoming a delegate to the conference, despite his position as the All India General Secretary of AIPNBOF. According to Kumar, after the office-bearers were announced, the post of president was left vacant. He said he then declared himself a candidate for the president’s post and demanded an election.
Kumar alleged that instead of conducting an election, the leaders left the dais, leading to protests for several hours. He claimed that a leader representing around 1,000 members was eventually accommodated as president, while he was not even made a Central Committee member despite being an All India General Secretary.
Kumar further referred to the 2022 AIBOA conference in Chandigarh. He said that before the conference, during a Central Committee meeting in Lucknow, he had publicly announced his candidature for the General Secretary’s post and requested that the election be conducted through a ballot paper.
According to Kumar, instead of holding a ballot election, attempts were made to prevent the delegation of his Punjab unit from participating in the conference. He said that members of his group remained outside the conference venue for two days while raising slogans. On the final day, they were allowed to enter the conference, but Kumar alleged that their demand for a ballot election was not accepted.
He further claimed that the conference was adjourned and that an election was later conducted through e-voting involving what he described as “bogus delegates”. Kumar said he boycotted that election.
Kumar said that in August 2023, four AIBOA units representing PNB, CBI, PSB and Bank of Baroda held a separate conference. According to him, Sanjay Khan of CBI was elected General Secretary, while Kumar became president.
Kumar also accused Nagrajan of causing organisational damage to AIBOA during the 2019 amalgamation of two banks with Punjab National Bank. He said he had requested Nagrajan to form an ad hoc committee representing the three banks’ AIBOA units. Kumar alleged that the request was not accepted and that the amalgamation of the three AIBOA units was delayed until June 2020.
According to Kumar, by that time, many members of the erstwhile Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India had joined AIPNBOA. He alleged that the delay resulted in significant membership losses for AIBOA and claimed that Nagrajan took these steps to weaken the challenge to his own position.
Kumar further alleged that Nagrajan’s efforts to retain his position as General Secretary of AIBOA have resulted in the organisation being “almost liquidated.”
Concluding his post, Kumar said that he would not work with Nagrajan again. However, he added that since Nagrajan is his senior and had previously been his leader, he would continue to have personal respect for him. Kumar said that while he respects Nagrajan personally, he does not have the same regard for him as an organisational leader.
