Modi silent on demonetisation in parliament, Rahul seeks action against PM's 'friends'

New Delhi: On Wednesday, at the beginning of the winter session of Parliament, without touching on the demonetisation issue that has opposition parties up in arms against the government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for healthy debates on various issues, including the GST. "Today (Wednesday) the session of the parliament is commencing. The last session witnessed the historic GST passage," Modi said outside the parliament ahead of the session. "I am expecting a very healthy and useful debate about issues including the GST in this session of the parliament," he said. The Prime Minister also hoped that parties will present their views on various issues to be debated. "We will talk about people's aspirations." "The government believes in debating every issue in an open manner as this sets the stage for good decisions," he added. In a sudden move on November 8, Modi announced the demonetisation of Rs 500 and 1,000 notes to curb the menace of black money, which political parties have strongly opposed as a meaningless exercise that has only caused trouble to common man. Rahul seeks action against PM's 'friends': Training his guns on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday demanded action against his friends and those who are hoarding black money. Addressing a large group of Congress activists in Bhiwandi, he alleged that in the past couple of years, Modi has waived off over Rs 110,000 crore of loans to a handful of 15 industrialists, with whose help the country is being run. "Now, through demonetisation, he has taken money from each citizens' pockets to give it to these industrialists who are his friends no action has been taken against them we demand action against Modi's friends and those who have hoarded black money," Gandhi said. He predicted that the money collected from the public after demonetisation of Rs 500 and 1000 currency notes, would go back to the pockets of those 15-20 industrialists and others "within one year". He asked the large gathering of Congress activists from Mumbai and Thane - "Did you get your Rs 4000? Have you got the indelible ink mark?" to which they disapprovingly roared "NO". Gandhi pointed out how each and every citizen in the country was suffering today because of demonetisation and have been put to immense hardships. "But Modi is laughing and crying laughing and crying," although no industrialists or black money hoarder stands in the long queues to exchange their old notes," he said. A magistrate's court in Bhiwandi granted bail to Gandhi who was accused in a defamation case, filed by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activist, Rajesh Kunte. The next for hearing in the matter has been fixed for January 28, 2017. Later, he addressed a huge crowd of Congress activists in this Muslim-dominated powerloom town, Gandhi, saying he had come "to fight" the ideological war against the RSS. "On one hand it's a fight for independence versus slavery. They want everybody to bend before them as they want to rule but they cannot enslave this country as the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi are enshrined in our hearts," Gandhi said. Enroute to Mumbai after the court hearing, Gandhi stopped at a bank near a toll tax point on the outskirts of Bhiwandi, interacted with people and shared their grievances. Anand Sharma of Congress demands probe into 'selective leakage' of demonetisation: Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma on Wednesday demanded a probe into "selective leakage" of the demonetisation move, which he termed a "Nadirshahi farman" (autocratic order). Congress leader Sharma also sought to know from Prime Minister Narendra Modi as to "who wants to kill him", referring to the Prime Minister's speech in Goa where he had said that with demonetisation resulting in "Looting of their 70 year corrupt earnings, they will destroy me, they can kill me". "There should have been an ordinance for demonetization. But no ordinance was brought. This is a Nadirshahi farman (autocratic order)," Sharma said. "The decision to demonetise high currency notes was leaked to a select few. Secrecy was not maintained on this issue. It was published in a Gujarati newspaper long back and even other newspapers wrote about it," said Sharma. "There should be a probe into the selective leakage of information," he said, asking: "What did the government do to prepare for effective implementation of the policy." He also sought to know from the government which law gave it the right to impose limits on withdrawing money from peoples' own accounts. "I condemn PM's statement in Goa for mocking the people who are standing in queues. He must apologise. Please explain who wants to kill you," said Sharma posing a question to the Prime Minister. "An atmosphere has been created by the government where questioning them has become a parameter to decide one's nationalism," said Sharma. He sought to know from Prime Minister Modi as to from where the "15 thousand crore rupees spent on your mega election campaign come from". "Did you pay for your recent Ghazipur rally through credit card," Sharma said mocking the government for asking people to use plastic money for day to day expenses. Sharma also demanded that Prime Minister Modi must disclose the list of those names, who are holding black money in Swiss banks. "Government has a list of those holding black money in Swiss banks. We demand that Prime Minister must tell who all are there in the list," said Sharma. He said the government should disclose how much money left India between March and September this year and how many people invested in bullion, bought gold or forex during this period. Sharma also said if the government-run State Bank of India (SBI) knew about the demonetisation move in March, why did it not make preparations like recalibrating ATMs and arranging sufficient cash in smaller denominations. He took a dig at the government for using the term "surgical strike" in the context of demonetization and the unplanned consequences of the move, saying, "Bina doctori padhe sab surgeon ban gaye (You became a surgeon without training or education)."