The Hassan district units of the Congress and Communist Party of India (Marxist) staged separate protests opposing the demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes in Hassan on Monday.
The protesters said the decision had been implemented without proper preparations and therefore caused hardship to the public, particularly those residing in rural areas.
Congress workers took out a march from the party office to the Deputy Commissioner’s office, where they staged a dharna. District Congress Committee president B. Shivaram, who led the protest, called the demonetisation ‘unscientific’. “The government took the decision without proper preparation. The country’s economics has suffered a jolt with this decision. This will affect India’s growth, besides impacting rural life to a great extent,” he said.
Mr. Shivaram added that the latest decision of the Centre would not help in stopping corruption. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has failed to bring back black money stashed abroad. Now, he is penalising the poor in the name of clearing the black money in the country,” he criticised.
M.V. Gopalaswamy, MLC, Malenadu Development Authority chairman H.P. Mohan, S.M. Anand, former MLC, and others led the protest.
CPI (M) protest
Leaders of the CPI (M) staged a dharna in front of Hemavati statue to observe Aakrosh Divas. The protesters raised slogans against the BJP government and criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Naveen Kumar, district president of Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha, said demonetisation had disturbed the rural economy badly. “The government has failed to act on black money that rich businessmen and powerful politicians possess. There has been no action to punish those named in corruption cases. The government is trying to fool the people by stating that it will eliminate corruption through demonetisation,” he said.
