Congress activists on Thursday held a protest against ‘demonetisation’ on its second anniversary, in Chikmagalur, Karnataka. (PTI Photo)
The Congress along with its frontal organisations will Friday hold a protest against demonetisation at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) headquarters in New Delhi from 12 pm, a day after the party led the charge in criticising the note ban exercise.
“Indian Youth Congress is organising a protest outside RBI Headquarters on the occasion of the second anniversary of failed demonetisation. The protest is to highlight miseries of the nation since last two years under Modi regime. It is a protest against failed demonetisation of Modi government where common people of the nation suffered its grave consequences,” the party said in a statement.
On Thursday, the second anniversary of demonetisation, leaders of the Congress party as well as other opposition parties including TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, attacked the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government saying the note ban had harmed the informal economy. Fronting the attack, former prime minister Manmohan Singh described the policy as an “ill-fated and ill-thought” exercise.
In a statement, Singh said the second anniversary of the policy announcement is a “day to remember how economic misadventures can roil the nation for a long time and understand that economic policymaking should be handled with thought and care”. “The “havoc” unleashed by “notebandi” on the economy and society “impacted every single person, regardless of age, gender, religion, occupation or creed,” he added.
Also Read | Editorial —Two years later
Congress president Rahul Gandhi said demonetisation is “unique in the history of our tragedies because it was a self-inflicted, suicidal attack that destroyed millions of lives and ruined thousands of India’s small businesses”.
The CPM said the “Indian economy is yet to recover from the disaster imposed on our economy and people by” Modi. The claims, it said, that demonetisation would “unearth lakhs of crores of rupees of black money and end corruption have proven to be utterly false”.
The BJP, however, hit back, asking why the Congress finds merit in protesting the government’s every “anti-corruption” measure. The BJP fired off 10 questions to Congress — “Why does the Congress find merit in protesting against every anti-corruption measure of the government of India? What do they fear? Why is it that wherever black money is there, the Congress is not far behind? What sort of politics and “anti-development mindset” the Congress has that opposes a bold move that has widened the tax base? “Is the Congress living in a state of denial that it cannot see the surge in GDP numbers, the ‘Ease of Doing Business Rankings’ and Global Competitiveness Index? Why are they unhappy that India’s economic prowess is being recognised world over?”
Taking on the Opposition for calling the day when demonetisation was implemented a “dark day”, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said it marks a day when the backbone of anti-national activities like terror funding and accumulating black money was broken. “It is a dark day for those who used to rob the country,” he said.