The Congress on Friday criticized the Prime Minister for the RBI's decision to remove Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation. They alleged that this action was in line with his tendency to act impulsively without proper consideration, which is characteristic of his self-proclaimed status as a world leader.
A member of the grand old party commented that the current situation could lead to another catastrophic event similar to the demonetisation exercise of November 8, 2016, where the government invalidated all Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes.
Slamming PM Modi, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh stated: "Typical of our self-styled Vishwaguru. First Act, Second Think (FAST). 2000 rupee notes introduced with such fanfare after that singularly disastrous 'Tughlaqi firman' of Nov 8 2016 are now being withdrawn."
Congress MP Manickam Tagore tweeted, "Second Demo disaster starts .. M = Madness."
Taking to Twitter, Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera stated: “The ghost of 8th nov 2016 has come back to haunt the nation once again. The greatly propagated move of demonetisation continues to be a monumental disaster for this nation. The PM sermoned the nation on the benefits of the new 2000 notes, today when the printing is stopped what happened to all those promises?”
Former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram tweeted: “As expected, the government/RBI have withdrawn the Rs 2000 note and given time until September 30 to exchange the notes. The Rs 2000 note is hardly a popular medium of exchange. We said this in November 2016 and we have been proved correct The Rs 2000 note was a band-aid to cover up the foolish decision of demonetising Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes which were popular and widely exchanged currencies.”
Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj stated: "This whole concept of starting the circulation, stopping the circulation of notes, or issuing of new notes, was started by PM Modi and the economy suffered due to this... I don't know what will be the pros and cons of this step but I hope the decision was taken by the experts."
On Friday, the Reserve Bank of India revealed plans to remove Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation. Those who possess such notes may deposit them in bank accounts or exchange them until September 30.
In November 2016, the Rs 2,000 bank note was introduced to quickly address the currency needs of the economy following the removal of legal tender status for Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes that were in circulation at the time.