At the Manthan Aaj Tak event in Mumbai, representatives from BJP, Shiv Sena and Congress discussed whether the Modi government's major reform - demonetisation - has proved a success or a failure, almost a year after it was implemented.

The inconvenience that commoners had to face standing in long queues outside banks and ATMs for the first couple of months after November 8 when 500 and 1000 rupee notes were scrapped is still fresh in the minds of many.

Demonetisation also affected medium and small scale enterprises, hurting the business of small traders in particular.

Speaking on the issue, BJP MLA Ashish Shelar said, "Demonetisation brought back huge deposits in banks. Several new accounts were opened, leading to increase in the tax returns filed. This is a positive sign and all that money is now accounted for. If one talks about small businesses like looms and factories and units in Bhiwandi and Nashik, people from these places voted for our party so they are happy with demonetisation. This was a move to strengthen the economy and results will be seen in the future."

Congress MP Hussain Dalwai said that the economy had suffered a lot due to demonetisation and that people had to face a lot of difficulties. He said, "There is a way of implementing such decisions. The government had not prepared well for it. Although it did have some impact on corruption, where is the black money that was to be brought back? Ninety nine percent of notes were deposited in the bank. Corruption is rampant in states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka among others and little has been done to weed it out".

Shiv Sena echoed Congress' criticism of the BJP on the noteban issue. Backing Dalwai's claims, Sena MP from South Mumbai Arvind Sawant said, "86 per cent of the currency was demonetised. It was announced that money used for terror funding would be seized and that practice stopped. Counterfeit currency will be confiscated. The tall claims made by the government before elections fell flat during demonetisation. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh termed the process monumental mismanagement. Udhav Thackeray also raised the issues being faced by the common man, but all appeals all fell on deaf ears". Over 100 people died following demonetisation, but the BJP and government do not seem to be at all bothered. There was no discussion on this in Parliament. The only thing BJP has to say is that they got votes after demonetisation. Every move is decided by the BJP on the basis of the number of votes a particular issue can bring it. It has no sense of responsibility".

Shelar replied to Sawant's allegations, saying, "The money, which came into the banks, had all details of people depositing the money. Income tax refund deposits have increased by large numbers, promissory notes are being changed with digitisation. Plastic money will bring accountability and benefit citizens of the country eventually".

Sawant trained his guns again on the BJP, saying that several developed countries like the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom among others still primarily used loose cash. "So why is such a move being forced on the poor now", he said.

Dalwai said that the cost of printing of the new currency notes was too high when compared to the money they claimed they saved or protected. "Along with farmers, now chartered accountants are also committing suicides", he added.

In response to these arguments, Shelar said, "Modi brought the Jan Dhan yojana and 4 crore people were given loans in SME and MSMe segments. This will benefit small-time businesses like ice-cream makers and small shopkeepers among others.

Sawant added, "A lot of people lost their jobs due to demonetisation. The number of people working under the MNREGA increased from 39 lakh to 80 lakh. Farmers have suffered, telephone companies are being shut and this is all due to demonetisation. A village in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor district made paint brushes. There were hundreds of people working there, but their business were badly hit."

Shelar was quick to ask Sawant "If people lost jobs in Uttar Pradesh, why did people vote our party to majority. Effects of demonetisation will be visible in the near future and benefits will be reaped through this."

Sawant also attacked the BJP, saying how come Arun Shourie, Yashwant Sinha, Amartya Sen and Manmohan Singh had all termed the complete demonetisation process a total failure.

Dalwai slammed the Modi government on the issue of safety of train commuters, saying that while the Centre was so keen on bringing the bullet train to India, rail mishaps on everyday passenger trains were not being looked into.

Shelar said, "Bullet train is for the development of a corridor and industrial development, It is not for local travel infrastructure."

At Manthan Aaj Tak event, Shiv Sena and Congress corner BJP over demonetisation