Telangana Congress observed the first anniversary of demonetisation as ‘black day’ with a rally and public meeting that saw all the party leaders seeking apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for ‘blindly’ supporting it.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said Telangana was yet to recover from the demonetisation decision taken by the Prime Minister. He alleged that the Prime Minister ‘cheated’ the common people by stating that things would be normal after 50 days and Mr.KCR supported it due to his ‘blind love’ for Mr. Modi without studying the possible implications. Recalling that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had rightly described demonetisation as organised loot and legalised plunder, he said instead of taking corrective steps to reduce the impact of damage, the BJP Government gave another blow to country’s economy with ill-planned Goods & Services Tax. He demanded the TRS Government to release a detailed statement on the impact of demonetisation in Telangana on both public and private sectors.
Former union minister S. Jaipal Reddy said that the country was in financial emergency for the last one year due to the ‘arrogance and ignorance’ of the Prime Minister. He said the country suffered a loss of ₹3 lakh crore due to drop of 2% GDP and 45 lakh people lost employment. Since, Mr. KCR supported demonetisation he should also give an explanation now, he added. Mr. Jaipal Reddy mocked at Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for his continuous support to demonetisation saying he was a good lawyer defending a weak case. Congress Legislative Party Leader K. Jana Reddy described the move as an attack on the financial status of the country and a reflection of an autocratic rule. Former PCC president Ponnala Lakshmaiah said ₹23,000 crore was spent on printing of new notes while gaining nothing from demonetisation. AICC Telangana In-charge secretary R.C. Khuntia said almost 99% of demonetised currency notes had returned to the RBI and there was no decrease in terror or extremist activities after demonetisation as was propagated by the Prime Minister. Earlier, the Congress leaders paid tributes to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at her statue on Necklace Road. They also released black balloons in the air to mark the ‘black day’. Former MPs, Sarve Satyanarayana, V. Hanumantha Rao, Madhu Yashki Goud, Anjan Kumar Yadav and former Minister, Danam Nagender were present.
