Note ban step to equitable society: BJP resolution

Says Oppn has become negative with destructive energy to defame the govt

CALLING DEMONETISATION an important step towards “economic inclusion, transparent governance and equitable society”, the BJP national executive in its economic resolution congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the move and expressed its gratitude to 125 crore Indians. The entire resolution dealt only with demonetisation.

“Demonetisation is an important step towards the establishment of economic inclusion, transparent governance and equitable society in our country. It is the transfer of black money from the tax non-compliant to the poor and the weak. The national executive congratulates the central government for fulfilling its promise of providing a cleaner and strategic economy for the nation. In this sacred movement across the country, the common people were taking upon themselves the temporary suffering of standing in queues with full enthusiasm and positive energy, but the opposition had become negative with destructive energy to defame the central government and trying to destroy the positive environment of the country,” read the resolution that was introduced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and unanimously passed by the national executive.

The national executive asked party workers to take to the people the message of digital economy, transparent governance, decisive leadership and dialogue with the common man.

Demonetisation, the economic resolution said, was necessary for decimating the parallel economy of black money and the smooth functioning of GST. Banks have more money to lend and interest rates have decreased while black money deposited with banks “has lost its anonymity” that will lead to a “bigger and cleaner GDP” because of higher revenue to the states and Centre, it said.

In the briefing that followed the passing of the resolution, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the figures for November show that “revenue and income of all states, except perhaps Bengal, had shown a rise post-demonetisation”. Asked about the West Bengal reference, she clarified that while the finance minister did say while introducing the resolution that there had been an increase in revenue, he did not mention Bengal but made a reference to what good governance can achieve.

The political resolution adopted by the national executive on Friday had been critical of the Bengal government and the ruling Trinamool Congress, accusing it among other things of fanning communal tension and “fascist oppression”.

Sitharaman said the Yuva and Kisan Morchas, too, had during the discussion on the resolution congratulated the government and lauded the reduction in wasteful expenditure post-demonetisation.

The resolution accused the opposition of having violated “the decorum” of Parliament by not allowing it to function for the wintersessionbuttheireffortsdidnot yield results for them as the people had shown their trust in the present government and its initiatives. “This is reflected in the fact that even after the 50 days of demonetisation, there was not a single major incident in the country, there was no loss of public property and there was no loss of people’s patience anywhere in the country,” the resolution said.

It lauded a series of other steps taken by the government against black money including formation of an SIT, the Income Declaration Scheme, Jan Dhan Scheme, Black Money Act, Bankruptcy Insolvency Law, DRT Amendment Law and Benami Property Act. The national executive expressed satisfaction at the fact that the government had ended the role of middlemen in schemes like MNREGA, financial assistance to poor students, subsidies to marginal sections including SC/ST/OBCS through digital transactions and Direct Benefit Transfers.