Second anniversary of demonetisation: 'Answer these 10 questions first', says BJP as Congress assails PM Modi

Is the Congress party living in a state of denial that it cannot see the surge in GDP numbers, the ‘Ease of Doing Business Rankings’ and Global Competitiveness Index? Why are they unhappy that India’s economic prowess is being recognized world over?

A bank staff member counts Indian 500 rupee notes to give to customers on November 24, 2016, in the wake of the demonetisation of old 500 and 1000 rupee notes in Mumbai. - The US dollar hit a record high against the Indian rupee November 24 as the greenback surges on expectations of a rate hike next month following Donald Trump's shock presidential election victory. The US currency bought 68.8625 rupees during early afternoon forex trading, surpassing the previous high of 68.8450 recorded in August 2013. (Photo by INDRANIL MUKHERJEE / AFP)

New Delhi: The Congress and the BJP are training guns at each other on the second anniversary of demonetisation. While the Congress has maintained that the note ban wrecked the economy, the ruling claims demonetisation was one of the key steps taken by the Government to formalise the economy. It's not just the Congress that's assailing the Modi government, the party has been shoring up support from AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee who have called the the radical decision "disastrous". According to the 2017-18 annual report of the RBI released in August this year, of the total value of Rs 15,417.93 billion SBNs (specified bank notes) demonetised, currency worth Rs 15,310.73 billion has returned to the banking system. This means 99.3 percent of the total banned notes has returned to the banks. The Congress then alleged that all the black money that was to be hunted converted into white by entering into the banking system calling the entire objective of demonetisation as an abject failure.  PM Narendra Modi's had asked his set of ministers and party leaders to not get subdued by the barrage of the accusations and since November 8, 2016, the saffron party has affirmed publicly and through the media that the ban of old currency notes of Rs 500, 1000 was imperative to cull black money and to halt crime, corruption and funding terrorism of terrorism. 2 years of demonetisation: Arun Jaitley comes to rescue as Opposition terms note ban 'ill-fated' And on the occasion of the second anniversary of demonetisation, the BJP has posed 10 questions for the Congress party, asking what stringent meassure had the erstwhile party taken in its 60 years in power to eliminate corruption and black money. Find below the string of 10 questions posted by BJP on Twitter

1. Why does Congress find merit in protesting against every anti-corruption measure of the Government of India? What do they fear?
2. Why is it that wherever black money is there, the Congress is not far behind?
3. What sort of politics and anti-development mindset is this of the Congress that opposes a bold move that has widened the tax base?
4. How is a former Finance Minister, himself under radar of investigating agencies for massive corruption involving land, cash and foreign bank accounts, speaking on policy matters? With what face?
5. Mr Anand Sharma, a Congress leader, had personally opposed demonetisation on the floor of Parliament. In the last 2 years, India has seen an increase of more than 2 crore tax returns. Is this why you were opposed to demonetisation?
6. Informal economy meant exploitation of the poor and the marginalized, many of whom came from lower middle class. Demonetization has lead to formalization of the economy, which has empowered them. Why is Congress opposing that?
7. Is the Congress party living in a state of denial that it cannot see the surge in GDP numbers, the ‘Ease of Doing Business Rankings’ and Global Competitiveness Index? Why are they unhappy that India’s economic prowess is being recognized world over?
8. Why is it that whenever India’s standing in the world increases the Congress takes to defaming India and creating an atmosphere of gloom to mislead the people?
9. Congress now remembers small business but did the UPA think of this sector even once? Except tax terror, raid raj and arbitrary policies, what did Congress do for small businesses?
10. Can the Congress name even one stringent measure they took during the UPA regime, which was aimed at eliminating corruption and black money?