Leading the Opposition's attack on the 2nd anniversary of demonetization, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described it as an "ill-thought" and "ill-fated" exercise whose "scars and wounds" are only getting more visible with time.
"The havoc that it (demonetization) unleashed on the Indian economy and society is now evident to everyone. Notebandi impacted every single person, regardless of age, gender, religion, occupation or creed," said Dr Singh.
Cautioning Modi government not to resort to further unorthodox, short-term economic measures that can cause any more uncertainty in the economy and financial markets, Dr Singh warned, "With a depreciating currency and rising global oil prices, macro-economic headwinds are also starting to blow now."
Describing demonetization as PM Modi's "monumental blunder" and "suicidal attack" on economy, Congress president Rahul Gandhi sought to attack Arun Jaitley for being a spin doctor doing the unenviable task of defending an indefensible, criminal policy.
"India will discover, no matter how the government tries to hide it, that demonetization wasn't just an ill-conceived and poorly executed economic policy with "innocent intent", but a carefully planned, criminal financial scam," said Gandhi.
The Congress also sought to turn the day as a political weapon and brought out five short films (41 to 140 seconds long) showcasing the ill effects of demonetization on small businesses, farmers, workers, youth, poor and middle income households.
Using PM Modi's speech of November 8, 2016, as the background voice, the films show clips of angry, harassed and distraught public in queues during first few weeks of demonetization and attack PM Modi directly on various counts while asking voters to hold the BJP accountable during elections.
Former Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu also slammed PM Modi on demonetization. demonetization was disastrous for the middle and lower middle classes, Kaushik Basu tweeted pointing to his article published in New York Times in 2016.
Christening November 8 as #DarkDay, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, "The government cheated our nation with this big #demonetization scam. It ruined the economy and the lives of millions. People will punish those who did this."
"#DarkDay Today is the second anniversary of #demonetization disaster. From the moment it was announced I said so. Renowned economists, common people and all experts now all agree," she said in her second tweet.
MASTER STROKE THAT TURNED SOUR
It has been two years since Modi govt banned high denomination currency notes
- Rs 598 bn – Amount transacted through Unified Payment Interface (launched in 2016) as of September 2018
- 20.2% – Percentage by which collection of personal income tax has risen compared to FY 2017-18
The generation of black money has not come down; every other day we see black money being seized by cops. It has not ended fake currency because counterfeiters have successfully counterfeited the new Rs 2000 and Rs 500 notes. demonetization was the most ingeniously designed official money laundering scheme.
P Chidambaram, former finance minister and Congress MP
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 "Demonetization")
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