Congress stages nationwide protests against demonetisation

On the second anniversary of demonetisation, the Congress had launched a scathing attack on the government on Thursday, with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh terming it as an ‘economic misadventure’.

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New Delhi:On the completion of two years of demonetisation exercise, opposition party Congress is staging protests across the country. In the national capital, the protests will likely be staged outside the Reserve Bank of India. On the second anniversary of demonetisation, the Congress had launched a scathing attack on the government on Thursday, with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh terming it as an ‘economic misadventure’. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi also said in a statement that that demonetisation was a planned "brutal conspiracy" and a "shrewd scheme" to convert the black money of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "suit-booted friends" to white. "India will discover, no matter how the government tries to hide it, that demonetisation wasn't just an ill-conceived and poorly executed economic policy with 'innocent intent', but a carefully planned, criminal financial scam," Gandhi said in his statement. Opposition's attack: The Shiv Sena on Thursday said people were waiting to punish Prime Minister Narendra Modi for announcing demonetisation two years ago, while  AAP equated demonetisation with 9/11 attacks,. Delhi CM Kejriwal termed it self-inflicted wound on economy. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu Thursday dubbed demonetisation a disaster and claimed the country had still not overcome the economic 'setback' caused by the BJP government's 'hasty' decisions. Senior Congress leader Ashok Chavan Thursday described demonetisation as the "biggest mistake of the Modi government" and claimed that it resulted in the slowdown of the economy and rise in unemployment. Government’s Defence As heavy criticism by opposition parties came down upon BJP government, it enumerated the advantages of demonetisation that have benefitted the country. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday termed demonetisation as ‘key step’ in a chain of important decisions taken by the government to formalise the economy. Explaining the aftermath of note ban, Jaitley said it was becoming increasingly difficult to evade the tax system. “Government first targeted the black money outside India.  Asset holders were asked to bring this money back on payment of penal tax. Those who failed to do so are being prosecuted under the Black Money Act. Details of all accounts and assets abroad which have reached the Government resulted in action against the violators,” Jaitley wrote further in his post. The senior BJP leader also stated that it was demonetisation which compelled holders of cash to deposit the same in the banks.