Two days before the demonetisation anniversary, the Congress on Tuesday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to apologise to the nation for note ban that "ruined" and "wrecked" the economy. On the eve of November 8, 2016, PM Modi addressed the nation, announcing the demonetisation of around Rs 16.99 lakh crore in circulation with immediate effect. The historic step to scrap the existing Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes was taken by the Modi-led BJP government in a bid to curb black money, weed out fake notes and proscribe terror financing. However, today, two years after demonetisation, none of those objectives have been materialised, the Congress claimed.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari declared a nationwide protest to mark the second anniversary of demonetisation on Thursday, November 8, 2018. Scores of Congress leaders and workers will take to streets to protest against the "complete demolition" of the Indian economy unleashed by the "Tughlaqi farmaan" of demonetisation two years ago, Tewari added. Congress president Rahul Gandhi and other prominent figures from the party are also expected to take part in the rally.
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The contentious demonetisation exercise, which Tewari compared to that of Delhi Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq's ill-judged monetary reforms in the 14th century, led to never-ending queues outside the banks and ATMs across India. It also resulted into the death of over 100 people in the country as lines outside banks and ATMs continued to grow with each passing day. Most of the deaths were claimed to be owing to exhaustion after standing for long hours in serpentine queues.
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