Expressing doubts over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assurance that he was finding ways to punish those guilty of stashing black money in the Jan Dhan Yojana accounts meant for the poor, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Saturday asked him to reveal details of the wealth deposited in these accounts.
Ms. Mayawati alleged that behind Mr. Modi’s comments on Jan Dhan accounts was a “conspiracy” to benefit big corporates and industrialists.
“The PM must tell us where the thousands of crores have been deposited in banks. Who is benefiting from them? It is that big corporates and industrialists who are benefiting from it,” Ms. Mayawati said.
Earlier in the day, while addressing a parivartan rally in Moradabad, Mr. Modi appealed to the poor people to not withdraw money from their Jan Dhan accounts even as he promised to take action against those guilty of allegedly depositing black money in these accounts.
Ms. Mayawati targeted Mr. Modi for calling himself a “fakir” (ascetic or hermit) during his address in Moradabad. “How can a person who is a patron and well-wisher of big corporates and industrialists be a fakir? That makes him maal-daar [extremely wealthy],” the former U.P. Chief Minister told reporters here.
‘No preparation’
The sole motive of Mr. Modi in bringing demonetisation was “political,” Ms. Mayawati claimed. The constant tinkering with the rules and conflicting statements given by the PM, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and the RBI Governor on the timeframe for the inconvenience people would have to put up with was proof that the step was taken without any preparation.
