Rahul queues up at bank, says it is to show solidarity with common man

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi stood in queue with hundreds of consumers looking to withdraw cash at a bank branch in Delhi, in an apparent show of solidarity with the common people.

“Mere logon ko kasht hua hai, mai unke saath khada hoon yahan (My people have suffered. I am standing by them),” Gandhi said, standing in queue at the State Bank of India branch on Parliament Street in Delhi. “Gareeb vyakti ko kasht ho raha hai (The poor are suffering).”

Millions of panicked consumers have been lining up outside banks and ATMs across India since Thursday to exchange scrapped banknotes, but chaos ensued for the second straight day with poor cash flow. People have been struggling to deposit or exchange Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes – which the government abruptly put out of circulation on Tuesday in a bid to stamp out black money.

“Mai yahan Rs 4000 badalne aaya hoon (I’ve come here to exchange Rs 4,000),” Gandhi said.

Opposition parties, including the Congress, have criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government for inconveniencing the public by abruptly demonetising the high-value currency notes, which account for 86% of the currency in circulation by value.

Read | Banks struggle to handle panicked customers, ATMs run dry within hours