Modi has taken people’s money like a pickpocket: Yechury

Takes to Facebook to contest the claim about economic growth not being affected much.

CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury releasing a booklet containing a series of articles analysing the two years of the Modi government at A.K. Gopala Bhawan in New Delhi in this June 9, 2016 photo. Mr. Yechury went hammer and tongs at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the demonetisation move and said the note ban would in no way stop black money becoming legal tender. He also faulted RBI’s projection of a nearly 7.1% growth rate and accused the government of “playing fraud.”

In a stinging attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over demonetisation, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Sunday alleged that he had taken away the money of people like a “pickpocket” and contested the claim about economic growth not being affected much.

Taking to Facebook, Mr. Yechury charged Mr. Modi with helping black money hoarders to exchange it with white money and said the government was “playing fraud” by claiming that the growth rate would be 7.1 per cent despite the note ban.

After BJP lauded note ban

The scathing remarks from the Marxist leader come a day after the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party hailed scrapping of old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes calling it as a “sacred movement” that would lead to a clean economy.

Mr. Yechury wondered how the saffron party can claim “victory against black money” when the government had not produced data on money that was returned to banks and restrictions on withdrawals continue.

“Modi behaves like a pickpocket, who has picked pockets of the people first, and now says he will come out with welfare schemes,” Mr. Yechury said in the post.

‘Black money just becomes white’

Recalling that Mr. Modi had, in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, said that 90 per cent of black money was parked abroad, Mr. Yechury alleged that the Prime Minister was doing nothing on this front.

Mr. Yechury expressed apprehension that the end result of demonetisation, with time till March 31 to exchange scrapped notes, could be that banks would have more currencies than they have printed.

The defunct notes can be exchanged at designated Reserve Bank of India (RBI) counters after explaining reason for delay in depositing them by December 30. “This will ultimately see that black money will become white and counterfeit will turn legal currencies,” he claimed.

‘RBI projection wrong’

Referring to RBI’s projection that the growth rate will be close to 7.1 per cent, the Rajya Sabha member accused the government of “playing fraud.”

Mr. Yechury said the figure was calculated by allegedly considering only the first six months of the present fiscal and not the months of October, November and December.

”... and hence, they say that growth had not been affected,” he added.