Describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “democratically elected autocrat,” Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said demonetisation wiped out the confidence in India’s booming economy.
In an opinion piece for Financial Times, published on Wednesday to coincide with the first anniversary of the note ban, Mr. Gandhi wrote, “Demonetisation has wiped out 2% of India’s gross domestic product, destroyed the informal labour sector and has wiped out many small and medium businesses. It has ruined the lives of millions of hard-working Indians.”
Quoting figures from The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, he argued that over 1.5 million people lost jobs in the first four months of 2017 due to demonetisation.
Interestingly, he cited unemployment as one of the reasons that propelled Mr. Modi to power in 2014. “Mr. Modi has damaged India by converting anger created by joblessness and lack of economic opportunity into communal hatred. He has chosen to hide behind a shallow, hate-filled political narrative. Anger might have brought Mr. Modi to power but it will never create jobs or fix India’s institutions,” Mr. Gandhi wrote in FT .
Pointing out the difference in the numbers of jobs that China and India creates every day (he stated China creates 50,000 jobs daily while India comes up with 500 jobs), he said India’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) can meet the jobs challenge but they were “wounded by the note ban and a flawed tax.”
Nationwide protests
Observing ‘Black Day’ on Wednesday, the Congress organised protests across the country and promoted a hashtag #BJPMoneyLaunderingDay.
Addressing a press conference, the party’s communication chief Randeep Surjewala posed several questions to the ruling party.
“Just before the note ban, in September 2016, ₹5.88 lakh crore were deposited in the banks. Whose money was this? Where did it come from and where did it go? None knows,” said Mr. Surjewala.
