Calling the November 2016 demonetisation a “crime”, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the “guilty will be investigated and punished”.
He asked why Arvind Subramanian did not resign as Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) to the government when he disagreed with the note ban.
“Demo like Rafale was a crime against India & a huge scam. Parrikar distanced himself from Rafale to save his skin. Mr. Subramanian is doing the same with demo,” Mr. Gandhi tweeted tagging a report quoting the former CEA’s upcoming memoir, Of Counsel: The Challenges of the Modi-Jaitley Economy .
In his book, Dr. Subramanian has described demonetisation as a ‘draconian’ move . “Demonetisation was a massive, draconian, monetary shock: In one fell swoop, 86 per cent of the currency in circulation was withdrawn. The real GDP growth was affected by the demonetisation. Growth had been slowing even before, but after demonetisation, the slide accelerated,” Dr. Subramanian writes.
In July, in an exclusive to the The Hindu, Dr Subramanian had indicated his views on the move when when he clearly said demonetisation ‘certainly did’ contribute to deceleration in the Indian economy. Soon after the November 8 2016 demonetisation, it was reported that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not consulted the then CEA before announcing the note ban.
