NEW DELHI: Marking the second anniversary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of demonetisation, Aam Aadmi Party convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal questioned the need for the exercise that he termed a “self-inflicted wound”.
In a tweet, Mr. Kejriwal said: “Though the list of financial scams of Modi govt is endless, demonetisation was a self inflicted deep wound on Indian economy which even two years later remains a mystery why the country was pushed into such a disaster ? (sic).”
Soon after Mr. Modi announced on November 8, 2016 that all Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 currency notes would be taken out of circulation, Mr. Kejriwal had come out against the demonetisation exercise.
Comparing it to a national disaster like the 9/11 attack in the United States, the AAP termed demonetisation the biggest economic failure, the likes of which had never been witnessed in independent India.
“The way terrorists destroyed the World Trade Centre on 9/11 during the attack on the U.S., Prime Minister Narendra Modi destroyed the economy of the country through demonetisation,” AAP leader Raghav Chadha alleged at a press conference.
All the claims made by Mr. Modi to justify the move during the announcement two years ago, Mr. Chadha alleged, had failed.
“Tall claims had been made...Mr. Modi had said that black money would be detected and seized, the back of terrorist organisations would break and the entire underground industry of black money would collapse – but none of this has happened,” Mr. Chadha said.
The party also posed questions to the Prime Minister demanding to know how much black money had been seized, how the country would make up for the loss suffered by its economy due to demonetisation and what help, if any, was extended to the families of as many as 115 citizens who died due to, or in connection with, incidents related to the exercise.
(EOM)
