BJP to observe demonetization anniversary as anti-Black Money Day, Cong calls it 'crude joke'

 The Congress today dubbed as a "crude joke" with the people the BJP's plan to observe November 8 as "anti-blackmoney day" and alleged that it is an attempt to divert public attention from the government's "failures" and "betrayal".

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi also took a swipe at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over a PIB tweet in which the government claimed that the "real GDP growth average is 7.5 per cent in last 3 years".
"Dear Mr Jaitley, May the Farce be with you," Gandhi tweeted. Congress' senior spokesperson Anand Sharma hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded that he introspect, apologise to the nation and demit office for his "reckless decision".

Sharma, flanked by Congress communications incharge Randeep Surjewala, accused Modi and Jaitley of showing "arrogance" by not admitting their "mistakes" of noteban decision and GST implementation which, he alleged, hit  the country's economy hard and halted its growth story. "This is a crude joke with the people of India," Sharma said in a retort to BJP's plan to mark November 8 as anti-blackmoney day. He said over 99 per cent of the money the prime minister had junked has returned to banks as it was genuine money of the people and not black money and only 0.0013 per cent of black money has been found.
"Where is the issue of having this national celebration.

It would be apt if they observed it as anti-people BJP policies day," he told reporters. "It is nothing but a smokescreen and a myth to mislead and confuse the people," he said.Sharma accused the prime minister of "destroying" the country's economy and the growth story that was initiated by the Congress-led UPA.  "If morality is still a virtue in India s polity, then it is time for Prime Minister Modi to introspect and demit the office he holds," Sharma and Surjewala said.

They said Modi should order an immediate investigation "into the demonetisation scam as also the loss to economy"."The PM remains in arrogant denial of the hardship inflicted on people of country by his reckless decision," Sharma said. He accused Jaitley of making a "desperate" attempt to save the BJP as the "ground is slipping from beneath" its feet. Taking a dig at BJP chief Amit Shah, Sharma asked whether Amit Shah's son Jay Shah would find a place in this celebration.

"'Modinomics' and 'Jaitleynomics' have destroyed India s economic growth story," he alleged. He claimed jobs are in peril, exports are falling, GDP is on a downward spiral, NPA's have touched a whopping Rs 9 lakh crore and credit growth is at a 63-year "The BJP is so drunk with power that it wants to celebrate the 'Demon of Demonetisation'," the joint statement said. The two Congress leaders said that a h=government that came to power on the promise of bringing black money of Rs 80 lakh crore and "depositing Rs 15 lakh in every Indian s account" stands exposed.

Sharma accused Jaitley of giving people an untrue picture on the state of the country's economy and alleged the government lacked a plan to put the economy on back on track. The Modi government had "hurt" the economy and "put it in the ICU". "What has been said about the economy is not true...It is wrong to say that the country's economic fundamentals are strong. The finance minister claiming that India's economy is the world's fastest growing is incorrect and factually wrong," Sharma told reporters, adding that China was five times bigger economy which was growing faster than India's.

He said the government had now realised the "bad condition" of the economy and has woken up to the situation by announcing a financial package. Surjewala said the truth is that the biggest increase in digital transactions happened during the Congress rule, when it rose by 53 and 49 per cent during 2012 to 2013 and 2013-14. He also said that against Rs 1,01,183 crore blackmoney unearthed during 2013-14, only Rs 29,211 crore was unearthed during 2016-17 and a total Rs 17,526 crore detected as undisclosed income' during the current year.