Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to withdraw currency notes of Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 500 denominations, the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee said on Friday said that it would hold protests outside nationalised banks on November 21.
In a statement, TNCC president Su. Thirunavukkarasar said that the order had been implemented without any planning by the Central government. Despite repeated revisions in upper limit for banking transactions, the exemptions offered by the government will not be sufficient for a family to conduct a wedding, for which a withdrawal limit of Rs. 2.5 lakh has been set as a sovereign of gold costs over Rs. 22,000.
Mr. Thirunavukkarasar also blamed the Tamil Nadu government saying that it had not taken adequate steps to help farmers who felt “cheated” by the demonetisation. The restrictions placed on cooperative banks had stagnated the agricultural economy. Mr. Thirunavukkarasar also raised politician and mining baron Janardhana Reddy’s daughter’s wedding saying that the Centre should check which bank had released Rs. 650 crore allegedly spent by Mr. Reddy for the wedding ceremony.
TMC slams Centre
Tamil Maanila Congress president G.K. Vasan on Friday announced that his party would hold a protest next week against the Centre for its “lack of preparedness” as regards the demonetisation.
The move is a shift from the position adopted by the TMC after the Prime Minister announced his decision. Mr. Vasan’s first reaction was one of support as he termed the move as one against black money. Later, he began noting that people had been inconvenienced by the move and appealed to the Centre to ensure that people’s lives are not affected. On Friday, in a strongly-worded statement, Mr. Vasan noted that trade had come to a standstill. He said that long queues could be seen outside banks and people living in rural areas had to travel long distances to ATMs and banks. Mr. Vasan also noted that there was scrutiny on the use of indelible ink with the Election Commission writing to the Finance Ministry about a possible impediment during the upcoming elections.
Mr. Vasan said he would lead his party’s protest in Chennai on November 23.
