Illegal cash worth ~6 lakh crore to be realised after demonetisation: BJP

According to government estimates, or so a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader claimed, ~6 lakh crore of unaccounted money was set to come back into the system under the ongoing demonetisation of ~500 and ~1,000 denomination currency notes.

He said unaccounted money in the economy was ~15.75 lakh crore, in an informal interaction with journalists. The demonetisation, said the ruling party senior, was one of a series of steps the Narendra Modi government had taken and would take in the months to come, as part of a crackdown on ‘black money’.

The refound money, he said, would be spent on welfare schemes for the poor, modernising of the military, improving of schools and infrastructure.

The BJP would use the recent “surgical strikes” against terrorist camps across the border and the recent demonetisation as features of its election campaign in Uttar Pradesh. Assembly polls are due there and in four other states by February. The BJP leader said the criticism of demonetisation by the party's main rivals in UP, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the ruling Samajwadi Party, showed their frustration as the move had impacted their “war chest” of unaccounted money. He conceded the BJP’s traditional support base of traders was also hit by the move. “But, we don’t play vote bank politics. We are working for the poor,” he claimed.