Demonetisation caused hardships to farmers, labourers: Akhilesh Yadav

Agra: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday accused the Centre of messing up the Indian economy and causing hardships to farmers, labourers and traders by demonetising Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. He said neither corruption nor black money will end with demonetisation, which will, on the other hand, inconvenience all sections of society due to lack of planning. Speaking after launching 25-odd projects in Agra, the Chief Minister said: "(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi-ji talks of Digital India and banking through mobile phones, but it is our party (Samajwadi Party that distributes laptops and have now announced smartphones. Already one crore people have registered for the devices." Taking a dig at Bahujan Samaj Party supremo and former Chief Minister Mayawati, Akhilesh said: "The expressway we built is good enough for fighter planes to land and take off. The one built by her landed a whole lot of farmers in jails and led to lathi-charges." Claiming that his government was firmly committed to protect the environment, Akhilesh Yadav said the Prime Minister had done nothing for protecting rivers. The Chief Minister released a book on Taj Mahal -- A Romance in Verse by Dr Ram Singh -- and a coffee table book on the occasion. A Vision Document 'Green Path' listing the green initiatives of the Samajwadi Party government was also released.