Demonetisation anniversary: ‘Black Day’ rallies across West Bengal

South Kolkata Youth Congress Lok Sabha Committee members protest against the note ban, in Kolkata on Wednesday. (Express photo: Partha Paul)

The Trinamool Congress observed Kaala Diwas (Black Day) on Wednesday by taking out protest rallies against demonetisation across the state. Responding to the call by Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, state ministers and party leaders led rallies in various parts of Kolkata.

On Wednesday morning, Mamata posted a black image as her display picture on Twitter. “I have turned my Twitter DP black #DeMoDisaster. Let us raise our voices #Nov8BlackDay,” she had tweeted.

State Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim led a rally in Chetla area, state Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Aroop Biswas took out a protest march in Tollygunge, state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee led a rally in Behala, while state Power Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay took out a rally in Esplanade. Subrata Mukherjee, Shashi Panja and Trinamool leaders Subrata Bakshi, Sudip Bandyopadhyay also took part in the movement.

Hakim said, “People of the country are suffering because of a wrong decision taken by the central government. People lost their lives and jobs because of such a whimsical decision and are still suffering.

The Left Front and Congress hit the streets on Wednesday to protest against the Centre’s demonetisation drive. While Congress staged a protest near RBI regional office, the Left Front took out a rally from Ramlila Park to RBI office in the evening.

Addressing party workers near the RBI office, West Bengal Pradesh Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said, “The Centre has betrayed the people. They [the people] were disappointed with its decision to ban Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. The central government also failed to achieve its targets even one year after demonetisation,” he said.