Demonetisation was 'assault on the people'
Rahul Gandhi takes on Modi over note ban
India's top opposition leader Rahul Gandhi yesterday launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of demonetisation, saying he owed the people an answer on why he "inflicted such a deep wound" when pressing problems like unemployment remained.
Addressing a press conference, Rahul termed demonetisation the country's "biggest scam" and alleged that money was taken from common people and given to "crony capitalists".
On November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the scrapping of high-value currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500.
"Prime Minister Modi should answer why he inflicted a deep wound like demonetisation when issues like unemployment and low GDP rate remained," Rahul said while referring to the Reserve Bank of India's report on the outcome of the demonetisation exercise. According to the report, over 99 percent of the banned currency is back in banking system.
The Congress party President also alleged that demonetisation was not a mistake and was done deliberately to attack the people.
"Demonetisation was not a mistake but assault on you (the people of India). The intention was to help his 15-20 crony capitalist friends by taking money from the common man and filling their pockets," Gandhi said.