Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Friday charged that the “note ban” was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s conspiracy to ‘fleece’ the poor and help the super-rich.
“While Mr. Modi waived a loan of Rs. 1.4 lakh crore of 15 industrialists’ families, he didn’t write off farmers’ debts; didn’t give Uttarakhand the Rs. 7,000 crore [for reconstruction works after the 2013 deluge],” Mr. Gandhi told a rally in poll-bound Uttarakhand’s Almora town.
“These industrialists, who have taken bank loans which have now become non-performing assets [NPA], are the ones who backed Modi ji [during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections].
“Therefore, Modi ji [will not ask them to pay back the loans, he] will instead extract [money] from the poor for the rich to reap the benefits. This is the reality of the note ban,” he said, while taking a jibe at the BJP by quoting a Hindi film song: Ram naam japna, gareebon ka maal apna (In the name of Lord Rama, the BJP leaders fleece the poor).
While the Congress would support the Modi government on its actions against black money, the party was “completely against” demonetisation as the move was not solving the problem but hurting the poor instead.
“All cash is not black [money] and all black money is not cash”, Mr. Gandhi said.
“Ninety-four percent black money is in real estate, gold, and Swiss banks, and only six percent black money is in cash. I don’t know why Mr. Modi is focussing on the six percent by targeting the poor and middle class while ignoring the super-rich?”
‘Protecting the rich’
The Modi government was “protecting” the rich and the corrupt, Mr. Gandhi alleged. The Swiss government had given a list of bank account holders to the Central government but they have not yet been disclosed in Parliament. “Why are the names not being divulged? Where is the Rs. 15 lakh that was to be brought back from the Swiss banks and deposited in our bank accounts?”
Mr. Gandhi said normality would not be restored for six to seven months.
“Modi ji had said that demonetisation was only a 50-day trouble, but the truth is that your money is locked in the banks for six to seven months... Modi ji is doing this because he wants to waive the huge loans of the industrialists and the hard-earned money of the poor and the middle class would be used for this,” he claimed.
