NEW DELHI: The BJP hailed the demonetisation move of 2016 as an attack on corruption and black money, while the Congress alleged that the Modi government has continuously changed the explanatory reasons for carrying out the measure four years ago that has 'destroyed' the economy.
On the fourth anniversary of the move, PM Modi in a tweet said that the process improved tax compliance, and also checked avenues to fund terror operations, thus helping improve national security.
BJP national spokesperson Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the move resulted in cleaning up of the economy, formalisation of the informal sector and revenue aggregation. He was speaking at the party's headquarters here on the fourth anniversary of demonetisation.
"Demonitisation had dealt a body blow to the systemic financial corruption and black money economy. Since then, it has simultaneously invigorated formal economy and brought unprecedented financial benefits to all sections of society," Chandrasekhar said.
The economic transformations or decisions taken by Modi government in the last six years had an overall positive impact on the Indian economy, he added.
His remarks came after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slammed the government over demonetisation, alleging that the move four years ago was aimed at helping a few of Prime Minister Modi's "crony capitalist friends" and had "destroyed" the Indian economy.
The Congress observed the fourth anniversary of demonetisation as "Vikshwasghaat Diwas" (betrayal day) and ran a social media campaign 'SpeakUpAgainstDeMoDisaster'.
Party general secretary Ajay Maken at a media briefing quoted former prime minister Manmohan Singh's remarks on November 24, 2016, to hit out at the government.
"The way this scheme has been implemented- is a monumental management failure, and in fact, it is a case of organised loot, legalised plunder of the common people," Maken quoted Singh as saying.
"Modi ji's government continuously changed the explanatory reasons for carrying out demonetization," Maken said.
The Congress leader said that at different points, these were- to counter black money and corruption, to stem out fake currency or "counterfeit", for a "digital or cashless" economy, to tackle Maoism, terrorism and separatism, to bring idle savings into banks, to expand and deepen the tax base, to arrive at a bigger, cleaner and real GDP and for faster economic growth, to bring down real estate prices and to partner with the GST.
Maken also made a point by point rebuttal of the various objectives cited for demonetisation. He argued that demonetisation did not have any positive impact on savings and had adversely impacted real estate and also resulted in job losses.
Several senior Congress leaders such as Mallikarjun Kharge, Shashi Tharoor and Salman Khurshid slammed the government over demonetisation as part of the party's online campaign.
(With inputs from PTI)