Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hits out at the central government alleging that there is a huge scam behind the latter’s decision to scrap Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes.
“In the name of tackling corruption, a scam is being carried out at a large scale. Some evidence has to come to light and TV channels are showing it, it is not something new that I’m saying,” Mr. Kejriwal told reporters in a press briefing on Saturday.
“On November 8, when Prime Minister Modi announced that Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes are not legal tenders any more, they had already informed all their friends and BJP people, who actually have all the black money,” Mr. Kejriwal alleged.
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He further alleged that those who large amounts of black money had got enough to time to take care of it, before the decision to scrap the notes was officially made.
“In last three months, money has been deposited in all banks at a large scale, running into thousand of crores of Rupees. This arouses suspicion,” he alleged. “When the deposits in quarters before that were in the negative or there was no growth, how did suddenly such high deposits where made between July and September quarter? Whose money is this and how did such large scale deposits happen?” he said.
“It is the common man who is suffering due to this as those who have black money, have already done the setting. New notes are being home delivered to them for a commission,” he alleged. “There are huge queues outside banks, are there any big industrialists or black marketers in the queue? No. Shopkeepers, rickshaw pullers, auto rickshaw driver, farmers and labourers are in the queue. Do they have all the black money?” he said.
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Mr. Kejriwal alleged that demonetisation has led to a system of commissions and provided a fillip to black money instead. “Gold rate have gone up and black money has gone up instead of decreasing,” he alleged.
“If the government had completely scrapped Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 500 notes, we would have supported you,” he said. Mr. Kejriwal said that by introducing Rs. 2,000 notes, black money problem would not be taken care of.
“People are unhappy and poor people have to pay commission to convert their hard earned savings,” he said. “There is going to be a 200 per cent penalty on deposits above Rs. 2.5 lakh. You will take penalty from poor people who have saved Rs.. 5 to Rs. 6 lakhs over 10 years for their daughter’s wedding? God will not spare you,” he said.
Mr. Kejriwal also alleged that the real black money is in Swiss bank accounts, which Mr. Narendra Modi had promised to bring back before becoming Prime Minister but have not done anything on this issue since then. He said that he has those account numbers and if the government wants to take action against black money, they should arrest these account holders immediately.