At the Congress headquarters in Delhi, the chief of Media, Randeep Singh Surjewala, kicked off the day by reciting a Hindi poem, which highlighted the woes of demonetization and the Modi government's indifference.
At least 18 Opposition parties, including Congress, the Left, and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) took to the streets on Wednesday, to mark the first anniversary of note ban as 'Black Day'.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi spent the day in Surat, the country's textile and diamond hub, to highlight the effects of demonetization and Goods and Services Tax (GST) on the industry. The party also organised candlelight vigils in the evening, with Rahul participating in one such event near the Vivekanand statue at the Chowk Bazar area. He also interacted with the industry representatives and loom factory workers in poll-bound Gujarat.
At the Congress headquarters in Delhi, the chief of Media, Randeep Singh Surjewala, kicked off the day by reciting a Hindi poem, which highlighted the woes of demonetization and the Modi government's indifference.
The lines, 'Shataranj ki bisaat bichhi hai, Notebandi ki raakh bichhi hai, baadshah salaamat rahe!' received wide accolades. Earlier, in an opinion article published in London's 'Financial Times', Rahul attempted to demolish PM Modi's claim that demonetization wiped out corruption, saying: "Twelve months on, the only thing he has wiped out is the confidence in our once-booming economy."
"This year, a hastily imposed and poorly conceptualised GST dealt another blow to our economy. Bureaucratic and complex, it has devastated livelihoods, creating a modern-day Licence Raj, which imposes rigid controls and gives vast powers to government officials," he further wrote.
Rahul concluded the article by saying: "Modi has damaged India by converting anger created by joblessness and lack of economic opportunity into communal hatred. He has chosen to hide behind a shallow, hate-filled political narrative. Anger might have brought Modi to power but it will never create jobs or fix India's institutions."
Meanwhile, former finance minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram took on Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in a series of tweets. "FM says demonetization was ethical. Was it ethical to heap misery on millions of people, especially 15 crore daily-wage earners?" he tweeted. He also went on to ask whether it was ethical to destroy 15 lakh regular jobs during January-April, 2017, and forcing thousands of micro and small businesses to shut.
Echoing the sentiment, Surjewala said demonetization had turned out to be the biggest scam of independent India. He wanted to know the actions taken against BJP's Kolkata unit, which was caught depositing old notes worth Rs 3 crore, on the day of demonetization. He also raised questions regarding the ruling party's investment in at least 8 properties, worth Rs 3.41 crore, in Bihar and 18 properties in Odisha, saying that it amply demonstrated that the ruling party had advance knowledge.He further said that in September, 2016, bank deposits in scheduled banks saw an additional increase of Rs 588,600 crore. "The Modi government has been unable to explain it nor has made names of those who deposited Rs 25 lakh or more public. Also, in a raid on the Vaidyanath Urban Cooperative Bank, owned by BJP minister Pankaja Munde and her sister and BJP MP Pritam Munde, old notes worth Rs 10 crore were recovered. No progress has been made in the investigation against Mahesh Shah of Ahmedabad, who made a declaration of Rs 13,860 crore as part of the voluntary income disclosure scheme," Surjewala added.
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