Former Finance Minister Thomas Isaac on Monday called the Centre’s demonetisation drive in 2016 absurd, saying it caused a GDP loss of ₹15 lakh crore to the nation. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party will be tried in people’s court through elections.
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Speaking to mediapersons in Kannur on Monday, Mr. Isaac said that the BJP should explain to the nation as to what has been achieved by the demonetisation. The move only resulted in GDP growth dropping from 8% to 3%, causing an estimated loss of around ₹15 lakh crore to the nation in terms of growth, he said.
Mr. Isaac said that the Supreme Court’s view that the period of 52 days given for exchanging the banned currency notes was not unreasonable is absurd.
People faced many hardships as they were unable to withdraw money, many organisations were forced to close down and the economy faced a crisis, he said.
He said that the Prime Minister and his party should be tried in people’s courts by way of upcoming elections. Kerala has debated and reiterated that demonetisation was not a solution to bring back the black money.