Sitaram Yechury hits out at Centre on 2nd anniversary of demonetization

On the second anniversary of demonetisation, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury Thursday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi through note ban had "singlehandedly" destroyed the livelihood of people and the economy of the country.

The government's demonetisation move was a disaster for the economy and the people, the CPI(M) general secretary said.

On the Modi government's prediction that demonetisation would end black money, corruption and terminate terrorism, Yechury claimed that the Indian economy is yet to recover from the impact of note ban.

"Modi and his minions claimed demonetisation will end black money, finish corruption, terminate terrorism, and bring only digital transactions. Two years later, Modi is silent. The truth is that he singlehandedly destroyed the economy, lives and livelihoods," he tweeted.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday made a strong defence of the note ban move, saying it resulted in the formalisation of the economy and increased tax base, with the government earmarking more resources for the poor and infrastructure development.

Yechury claimed that five years ago, Modi had promised Rs 15 lakh in every Indian's bank account, but those who got huge amounts are the ones who looted banks and fled the country.

"They want you to forget that Rs 15 lakh for every Indian was promised by Modi. It was exactly five years ago. Those who got Rs 150000 lakhs are the ones who looted the banks and then were allowed to scoot from India (sic)", the CPI (M) leader said on Twitter.

The CPI(M) polit bureau in a statement alleged that all the claims of the Modi government that demonetisation would unearth lakhs of crores of rupees of black money and end corruption have proven to be utterly false.

"On the contrary, with 99.4 per cent of the banned notes back in the system, it is clear that demonetization has, in fact, been the avenue to convert black money into white helping the most corrupt", the party said.

The Left party also alleged that crores of people dependent on daily cash transactions have been devastated and more than 35 lakh workers in the unorganised sector have lost their livelihood.

"Nor has there been any impact on terrorist activities due to funding crunch as claimed by Modi at that time. On the contrary, official data reveals that incidents of terrorist attacks have more than doubled,"the CPI(M) said in the statement.

On the finance ministers statement, the CPI(M) alleged that he too was equally responsible for the mess in the Indian economy.

(With inputs from agencies.)