"Khajanchi turned 10": Akhilesh Yadav slams BJP on 10 years of demonetisation, challenges for 1947 vs 2047 debate

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wedneday invoked his "Khajanchi" jibe against the 2016 demonetisation, calling it the biggest corruption scandal in the world.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wedneday invoked his "Khajanchi" jibe against the 2016 demonetisation, calling it the biggest corruption scandal in the world. Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, Akhilesh Yadav alleged that circulation of cash increased and the demonetisation caused damage to the MSMEs. He also challenged the government to hold a debate on the economic situation in 1947 and what it will be in 2047.

"Today Khajanchi turned 10. We have been celebrating its birthday since the beginning, but sadly the Bharatiya Janata Party has never celebrated Khajanchi's birthday. Bharatiya Janata Party should adopt it, but not how their MPs adopted villages. His 10 years are full of failures. Those who talk about a USD 1 trillion economy can celebrate a child's birthday. Recently we saw that someone was being insulted for taking the leftover mustard oil for his family. Perhaps there has never been such huge corruption in the world like demonetisation done by the Bharatiya Janata Party... Demonetisation was done to sink the banks. Demonetisation worked as slow poison," he said. He termed demonetisation a "curse for banks" and raised questions over privatisation and merger of banks.

"The BJP took a decision on banking reforms in 2014. Under the pretext of demonetisation, the game of exchanging currency notes that was started ended up corrupting the entire banking system. The circulation of cash has increased by 70 per cent compared to what it was earlier. There is a long list of the damage that has been caused to MSMEs and small traders. Even today, banks are deducting money in the name of penalties. The BJP has created such a system. It has made banking more dangerous than even moneylenders, making it worse than them. Demonetisation became a curse for banks. Banks themselves were shut down, banks were merged, and even banks had to be sold," the Samajwadi Party chief said. "The truth is that these people keep throwing around the slogan of a developed India by 2047. One negative decision like demonetisation has pushed India's economy even further behind the economic position we had in 1947, when we became independent. If they feel these allegations are not true, let us have a debate on this as well. Let there be a debate on what the economic situation was in 1947 and what it will be in 2047, and how far they have pushed us backwards," he added.

The Centre demonetised the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes on November 8, 2016, aimed at countering tax evasion and black money. The government has maintained that the exercise was successful in increasing the number of tax returns. Also, according to the Finance Ministry, during the period November 2016 to March 2017, the Income-tax Department conducted search and seizure actions in 900 groups, leading to seizure of Rs 900 crore, including cash of Rs 636 crore and admission of undisclosed income of about Rs 7,961 crore. The opposition has been extremely critical of the exercise, raising doubts about whether it achieved the desired outcomes. (ANI)