The BJP on Friday accused Congress president Rahul Gandhi of lying and trying to “save black money” by criticising demonetisation, as opposed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was trying to curb it.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said at a press conference here that demonetisation destroyed the “ill-gotten wealth of four generations of the Gandhi family” and benefited the country by widening the tax base and hitting Naxalism.
In a statement on the second anniversary of demonetisation, Mr. Gandhi had said it was a planned “brutal conspiracy” and a “shrewd scheme” to convert the black money of Mr. Modi’s “suited-booted friends.”
Referring to Mr. Gandhi’s remark that the rich people did not stand in queue to deposit their demonetised notes and demonetisation had affected only the poor, Mr. Patra said the country had seen Mr. Gandhi alight from his “₹4 crore car” and stand in a queue at a bank. “Income Tax searches had yielded a revenue of over ₹35,000 crore and a law against ‘benami’ property had led to the seizure of assets worth over ₹4,300 crore,” he said.
Mr. Patra said the deaths due to Naxal violence had come down by 60% during 2017, compared with 2009, and he attributed the decrease to demonetisation. He also quoted a report that said the maximum number of Maoists had surrendered in a month after demonetisation.