On the fifth anniversary of demonetisation, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday termed it a “disaster.”
She asked 5 questions to the Narendra Modi government through Twitter, with the hashtag #DemonetisationDisaste.
“If ‘notebandi (demonetisation) was successful,
Why hasn’t corruption ended?
Why hasn’t black money come back?
Why hasn’t the economy gone cashless?
Why hasn’t terrorism been hit?
Why hasn’t price rise been reined in?”
On November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on national television his government’s decision to ban all currency notes of higher denomination of ₹ 500 and ₹ 1,000 from midnight on the same day.
Demonetisation was hailed as an essential decision to act against black money and corruption by the Narendra Modi government but drew bitter criticism from many opposition parties.
The key opposition Congress party has been alleging that demonetisation was not in the interest of people and had adverse effects on the economy.
Former Prime Minister and Congress senior leader Manmohan Singh had in 2016 called demonetisation a “monumental disaster” in a widely acclaimed speech in the Rajya Sabha. Blaming Narendra Modi directly for making people suffer, Singh used strong words like “organised plunder” and “legalised loot” to describe it. He had also compared the move to “shooting on tyre of a fast-moving car”.
