NEW DELHI: The BJP hailed the demonetization 2016 stunt as an attack on corruption and black money, while Congress claimed that the Modi government has continually changed the explanatory reasons for carrying out the measure four years ago that has ‘destroyed’ the economy.
On the measure’s fourth anniversary, Prime Minister Modi in a tweet said that the process improved tax compliance and also verified avenues for financing terrorist operations, thereby helping to improve national security.
BJP national spokesman Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the move resulted in the cleanup of the economy, the formalization of the informal sector and the aggregation of income. He was speaking at party headquarters here on the fourth anniversary of the demonetization.
“Demonization has dealt a severe blow to systemic financial corruption and the black money economy. Since then, it has simultaneously reinvigorated the formal economy and brought unprecedented financial benefits to all sectors of society,” said Chandrasekhar.
Economic transformations or decisions made by the Modi government in the past six years had an overall positive impact on the Indian economy, he added.
His comments came after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticized the government for demonetization, claiming that the move from four years ago was aimed at helping some of Prime Minister Modi’s “crony capitalist friends” and had ” destroyed “the Indian economy.
Congress celebrated the fourth anniversary of demonetization as “Vikshwasghaat Diwas” (day of betrayal) and ran a social media campaign “SpeakUpAgainstDeMoDisaster”.
The party’s general secretary, Ajay Maken, in a press conference cited the comments of former prime minister Manmohan Singh on November 24, 2016 to attack the government.
“The way this scheme has been implemented is a monumental management failure and, in fact, it is a case of organized loot, legalized looting of ordinary people,” Singh said, according to Maken.
“The Modi ji government continually changed the explanatory reasons for carrying out the demonetization,” Maken said.
The congressional leader said that at different points, these were: to counter black money and corruption, to eliminate counterfeit or “counterfeit” currency, for a “digital or cashless” economy, to combat Maoism, terrorism and separatism, to bring idle savings into banks, to expand and deepen the tax base, to reach a bigger, cleaner and faster real GDP and for faster economic growth, to lower real estate prices and to partner with the GST.
Maken also refuted point by point the various cited targets for demonetization. He argued that demonetization had no positive impact on savings and had an adverse impact on the real estate sector and also led to job losses.
Several high-ranking congressional leaders such as Mallikarjun Kharge, Shashi Tharoor and Salman Khurshid criticized the government for demonetization as part of the party’s online campaign.
(With PTI inputs)
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