New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday cherry-picked Manmohan Singh's critique to underscore that the demonetisation decision had in itself drawn "very little criticism" and went on to cast aspersions on his opponents by saying they were in agony because they did not get time to "prepare".
The statement infuriated the Opposition, which demanded an apology from the Prime Minister and accused him of trying to convey an impression that he was a "saint" and the others "devils".
The fresh friction could further cloud the fate of the winter session of Parliament where no business was conducted on Friday.
Some sources suggested the BJP would not mind a paralysis since the party had yet to come up with an economic rejoinder to Singh's statement in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. So far, the BJP has confined itself to a political response, making renewed references to scams during the UPA's rule and its alleged failure to check black money.
On Friday, at the Constitution Day commemoration in the Parliament House annexe, the Prime Minister too stuck to a political line of attack, glossing over the operational problems Singh had referred to with the words "monumental mismanagement".
Modi appeared to be focusing on that part of Singh's speech where the former Prime Minister said "I do not disagree with these objectives" (such as fighting black money and terror funding).
Modi said: "There is very little criticism of the government's decision but some persons are saying the government was not fully prepared. The issue is not whether the government was fully prepared."
Then, the Prime Minister skewered his critics: "Their agony is because they did not get time to prepare.... They are upset because we did not give them time to prepare. If these people had 72 hours' notice to prepare, they would have said ' wah, wah, Modi', 'there is no one like Modi', 'what a significant step he took!'"
The Prime Minister's comment was seen as a swipe at Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, who wanted demonetisation to be put on hold for at least a week to give people time to swap the old notes. The Samajwadi chief's plea had prompted BJP president Amit Shah to tell a rally in Uttar Pradesh that Mulayam and Mayawati, the BSP boss, had been "losing sleep" over the demonetisation.
When the Rajya Sabha met briefly this morning, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad demanded an apology from Modi for "insulting" the non-BJP spectrum.
Trinamul's Derek O'Brien said Modi's statement had conveyed an impression that the Prime Minister was a "saint" and the others were "devils". Outside the House, Mayawati told journalists that Modi must clarify "who possesses the black money he is talking about".
An attempt by Arjun Ram Meghwal, the junior finance minister, to suggest that Modi's comments had not been directed at the Opposition but at black money holders cut no ice with the Congress and the others.
Opposition sources claimed the winter session would be a "washout". A Congress MP said: "Instead of sounding conciliatory, the PM has raised a battle cry against his political adversaries. He is provoking us."
Apparently undaunted by the prospect of an entire session gone waste, Modi continued to showcase demonetisation as a " maha yagya (great offering)" to "brighten up the country's future". He projected the "crusade against corruption" as a way of "restoring India's self-respect and pride".
"Global surveys on corruption have placed India somewhere in the bottom among the most corrupt nations. This should make us hang our heads in shame. We have to raise our heads with pride. That is why certain decisions are taken and must be adhered to because we have big goals to meet," said Modi.From there, he flagged the notion of how digital currency was the ultimate panacea to straighten out a problem-riddled cash economy.
"Everyone has the right to the money he legitimately earns, nobody can take that away. But that does not mean it is necessary to carry currency notes. Many apps can be downloaded on your mobile phones that grant you access to every paisa you earn.... There are 100 crore mobile phone owners and even those who are unlettered are familiar with WhatsApp and can easily do their shopping through WhatsApp. Digital money can usher in transparency," he said.
Modi repeated the "virtues" of digitalising financial transactions while addressing a meeting today at Punjab's Bhatinda where he urged young people to "educate" traders on phone banking and shopping.
At a time when Modi and his ministers such as Nirmala Sitharaman have begun purveying the message of digital business, another central minister, Piyush Goyal, spent the day with Kailash Vijayvargiya, the BJP general secretary, explaining demonetisation to the traders of Indore in Madhya Pradesh.