Bank of Baroda said it has declared the BJP leader a wilful defaulter

BJP leader Mohit Kamboj has been declared a "wilful defaulter" by the state-run Bank of Baroda. Kamboj, chief of Mumbai unit of Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha who was in news earlier this year when he replaced his last name with "Bhartiya", disputed the bank's action, saying he had paid his dues as a personal guarantor for a loan.

In an advertisement Wednesday, the bank published Kamboj's photograph, using his new name, Mohit Bhartiya, and said it has declared him a wilful defaulter with regard to borrowings by a firm called Avyan Ornaments.

It had initiated proceedings to declare Kamboj and one Jitendra Kapoor as wilful defaulters as per the RBI's norms, the bank said.

As per the RBI's instructions, it was now informing the wider public about Kamboj and Kapoor being wilful defaulters, it added.

The account in question is managed by the bank's zonal stressed-assets recovery branch in South Mumbai.

In a letter circulating widely, the 35-year-old Kamboj claimed he was not a promoter or director of the company, but a personal guarantor.

As a guarantor, Kamboj said, he had paid Rs 76 crore as his part of the liability over the last two years. The matter reached the court in 2014 and the verdict went in the borrower's favour, he said.

However, he paid up so as to ensure that there were no dues against him, the letter said. Kamboj has been serving as president of the Mumbai unit of the BJP''s youth wing since November 2016.