Note ban a disaster, worst yet to come, warns Manmohan
ATTACK MODE Chidambaram slams PM, says ministers kept prisoners till decision announced
NEW DELHI: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday called demonetisation a “disaster” and cautioned people that the “worst is yet to come” even as former finance minister P Chidambaram claimed that there is no record of the November 8 cabinet meeting that decided to ban `1,000 and `500 currency notes.
Addressing the Congress convention on “anti-people and antipoor” policies of the BJP-led NDA government at New Delhi’s Talkatora Stadium, Singh dismissed as “hollow and propaganda” the claims by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that things have started looking up.
“Things are going from bad to worse and the worst is yet to come,” he said. “The beginning of the end has come.”
Singh had slammed demonetisation in his speech in the Rajya Sabha on November 24 last year during a debate on the note ban in the winter session. He termed the move as “monumental mismanagement and a case of organised loot and legalised plunder”.
On Wednesday, Singh said it was the “solemn duty” of all Congressmen to tell people the wrongs that have been done by Modi and that a “clarion call” should be given to the countrymen to “rise up” in protest.
For his part, Chidambaram said demonetisation was the unilateral decision by the PM. “Demonetisation was the decision of one person. ‘I am the Führer. I KAPIL SIBAL, Rajya Sabha MP am the leader. I must decide.’ All will have to suffer because of the folly of one person.”
The former finance minister claimed that ministers were kept “prisoners” till the PM announced the decision. “According to the records we have been able to access so far, there is no record of a cabinet meeting on November 8. We are yet to see a cabinet note of the meeting that took place, there has to be some record of the meeting taking place,” he said.
Chidambaram said postdemonetisation the country’s growth rate forecast has come down from 7.6% to 7%. “For the loss of every 1% in GDP growth, P CHIDAMBARAM, Former finance minister the country will face a loss of Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Never before in India’s history such a farce has been enacted.” He also said that the reputation of the Reserve Bank of India is at “risk today”.
Addressing the gathering, Congress chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Jyotiraditya Scindia, said the note ban is not only an economic issue but the “biggest oppression” on the people of India. “Congress is not only a political party but an integral part of the history of India’s revolution. Congress leaders and workers have offered sacrifices from time to time and they don’t need to give proof of it to the BJP.” AHMED PATEL, Political secretary to Sonia Gandhi
Attacking the BJP for giving the slogan of ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’, Scindia said the people of the country now want ‘Congress-yukt Bharat’.
At the convention, the party adopted a resolution mourning the death of 125 people due to demonetisation, which resulted in huge queues outside banks and ATMs, and demanded compensation for the families of the deceased.
In another resolution, the Congress hailed late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in her birth centenary year and accused the NDA government of attempting to “belittle” her life and work.
How can a person seek our record of 70 years when he himself has failed to give an account of the
50 days of demonetisation? Colleges will charge capitation fee... I am throwing a challenge to the PM. Let him say nobody will pay it. Can he give that promise? BJP talks about fighting black money and corruption. I want to ask them how much did they spend on PM’s
Lucknow rally on January 2. Congress is not only a political party but an integral part of the history of India’s revolution. Our leaders offered sacrifices from time to time.
JYOTIRADITYA SCINDIA, Cong chief whip in LS