`Why were people made to suffer during demonetisation?`

New Delhi [India], Sep 02 (ANI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government should reconsider on what grounds they wanted to talk about the Indian economy, citing the recent Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report that stated 99.3 per cent of the demonetised currency notes were back to the banking system.

He said, "People were made to go through such difficulty because of demonetisation, and 99.3 per cent of the demonetised currency is back, does the government have any answer as to why people were made to suffer?"

He further underscored that the economic indicators reflect that the Indian economy is suffering under the regime of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Tharoor said, "When you see the Gross Domestic Product figures, you notice that growth was more under United Progressive Alliance than under the NDA. Look at all the figures, such as inflation. Even the price of gas cylinders has increased. On what grounds does the government want to talk on economy? We are ready to talk. We think the last four years had not been good for the country. "Acche Din" was only for the people who were getting the money, not the one who was spending."

According to RBI's annual report for the year 2017-18, the total value of Specified Bank Notes (SBNs) in circulation as on November 08, 2016, post verification and reconciliation, was Rs 15,417.93 lakh crore, out of which currency worth Rs 15,310.73 lakh crore has returned.

Tharoor also reacted to Sambit Patra's recent dig at the Gandhi scion, where the BJP spokesperson had stated, "he is Rahul Gandhi, not Chinese Gandhi."

Patra, while addressing a media briefing, asked Gandhi why he is behaving like a Chinese spokesperson and took a dig by reminding him that he is "Rahul Gandhi, not Chinese Gandhi".

Hitting back over Patra, Tharoor said, "So many Indians visit Kailash Mansarovar every year, are they all Chinese agents? This is a baseless allegation."

Tharoor, meanwhile, welcomed the United States' military decision to cancel the financial aid worth 300 million USD to Pakistan.

He said, "Give Pakistan money for the eradication of poverty, education, development, but if you give money for the military purpose, it will be used against India. So the fund cut is welcome until the end use of the money is known." (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI