‘India robbed in the name of achche din’: Rahul, Mamata attack Modi’s demonetisation move

Opposition leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the Centre for its demonetisation exercise, asking when the cash crunch situation triggered by the move will improve.

Congress vice-president Gandhi, who has of late been unsparing in his attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also questioned the motive behind the Centre’s decision to ban Rs 500 and Rs 1000 banknotes.

At a press conference by Opposition parties, he reminded that the government had assured that the situation will improve after December 30, but things were still looking grim.

Though Gandhi’s party failed to rally a united Opposition, Banerjee, sitting next to the Congress leader, was aggressive.

The Trinamool Congress chief said the note ban exercise was a “mega scam” that had shattered the economy.

She alleged that farmers and businesses across the country were reeling due to the decision.

Banerjee also said the Opposition parties will chart a common minimum programme on demonetisation and corruption, even as she pointed fingers at the state of governance in the country.

“The country has been robbed in the name of achche din (good days),” she said, referring to the ruling BJP’s election slogan in 2014.

Soon after the Opposition’s press conference, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad launched a counter-offensive on Banerjee and Gandhi.

He said PM Modi had stressed time and again that the people of the country were supporting the note ban move, and asked whether this could be the reason behind the Opposition’s discomfort.

Prasad also targeted Gandhi, who has alleged that Modi took bribes from corporates as Gujarat CM, raking up the much-debated issue of corruption in the previous UPA regime.

(With agency inputs)

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