Note ban was to help convert black money into white: Rahul

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of helping hoarders of black money to convert it into white money with his "unilateral and whimsical" demonetisation.

Addressing a large gathering of rural and tribal people in Limkheda town in central Gujarat's Dahod district, Gandhi asserted: "Modiji realized that ordinary people and small businessmen had not been completely crushed by note ban. So he brought GST.

"Suddenly at midnight, he developed a dislike for Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, so he scrapped them, ha-ha-ha," Gandhi said to laughter from the crowds.

Repeating the word "Modiji" several times, he asked if Modi had ever asked farmers, labourers and small businessmen how they conduct their work: By cash or credit card, reports IANS.

Gandhi said: "The Congress urged him to go slow on GST, requested him not to have so many slabs and don't make it cumbersome. But he and (Finance Minister Arun) Jaitleyji just said no. They wouldn't listen."

In a scenario like this "when the entire country was set on fire by the twin blows, a new company rose from this fire", he said, referring to the firm floated by Jay Shah, son of BJP chief Amit Shah, which according to a report in a news website grew 16,000 times after the Modi government took charge in 2014.

He wondered how a fledgling company of Rs 50,000 hit a turnover of Rs 80 crore in just a few months and the same firm was closed down after making astronomical profits.

Gandhi then taunted the Prime Minister in Hindi: "Jab Modiji Pradhan Mantri baney tab unhone kaha tha, mein Pradhan Mantri nahi Chowkidar hun. Tou ab Chowkidar chup kyon hain? Kahan gaya Chowkidar?" (When Modi became PM he said he is a gatekeeper of the country. Now, why is the gatekeeper silent, where has the gatekeeper gone?).

The remark drew cheers from the crowds.